


Part of the Wolfpack

by MiaMoonWolf



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Akashi is alpha material, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Alternate Universe - Werewolves Are Known, Aomine is boyfriend material, Basketball, Contradictory thoughts due to fear, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Himuro is human, Homophobia, Human Pack Members, Internalized Homophobia, Kasamatsu Yukio/Kise Ryouta briefly, Kise is human, Kise's still a good fucking person, Mates for some, Minor Character Death, Multi, Panic Attacks, Pianos, References to Depression, References to bullying, Slightly out of character Kise at the beginning, Slow Build, Sneaking Plot, Speciesism, Teen Wolf AU, Werewolf!Aomine, Werewolf!Kagami, kuroko is human, werewolf!Akashi, werewolf!Murasakibara
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-09
Updated: 2017-05-15
Packaged: 2018-08-20 08:09:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 19
Words: 79,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8242396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiaMoonWolf/pseuds/MiaMoonWolf
Summary: Kise Ryouta doesn't smile in front of other people, not anymore. He doesn't talk to them, or try to make friends, he can't, not after everything that's happened. But now his family has moved and he's starting at a new high school. Even though he might not want them, there's a group of boys that is determined to be friends. Can Kise overcome his past and move on, or will he be stuck in a cycle of confusion, one in which he can never really be his true self.________A KnB werewolf AU done in a teen wolf style. AoKise endgame.





	1. Moving up North

**Author's Note:**

> Hi friends! Some quick notes about this fic. If you read teen wolf fanfiction, as yours truly does, then this story will feel pretty similar to that genre. The rules for wolves are more in line with Teen Wolf than the Alpha/Beta/Omega AU's that I've read, but I've changed some things too. Either way I will explain in the story. But here's a quick rundown: This story takes place in the US. Werewolves are known and protected within society just like humans. There are different packs made up of multiple werewolf families. In each pack there is one alpha, who leads the pack. There are also human pack members.  
> For the purposed of this story I've switched some of their ages as thus:  
> • Himuro, Murasakibara, Nijimura, Kasamatsu: seniors  
> • Aomine, Akashi: juniors  
> • Kise, Kagami, Kuroko, Furihata, Takao: sophomores  
> Also I tagged rape/non-con and underage so please don't read this if you find it upsetting. I do not think that there will be any graphic depictions, but I make no promises so please steer clear if it bothers you and be happy!  
> And lastly the parts in italics are memories so as to make it less confusing.

He woke up in a cold sweat unable to breathe the incessant beeping of his alarm confusing him. He rolled over, closed his eyes and forced himself to breathe. In and out, in, out… in…   out……     in       out

It was finally evening out, his chest no longer heaving. He got out of bed exhausted and made his way to brush his teeth.

It was September and already chilly out. He turned to the mountain of boxes in his closet, searching until he found one of the ones marked _school clothes_ and pulled out the first thing he found: a long-sleeve white T-shirt, a blue cardigan, dark jeans. He looked at himself in the mirror. Well not himself, but at his clothes his hand instinctively going up to his ear to hold over the empty piercing.

“Ryouta! Come down for breakfast.”

Kise grabbed his bag and followed the sound of his mother’s voice into the kitchen. She’d made fluffy pancakes, bacon, and cheesy eggs, just the way he liked them.

“Honey you’ve outdone yourself,” his father said as he leaned over to kiss his mom.

“Don’t get used to it, it’s just because it’s Ryouta’s first day,” she said as she smiled over at him.

“How’re you feeling slugger?” his dad asked as he made his way over to the table.

Kise shrugged.

“I was thinking of unpacking the kitchen first,” his mom said. “There are some unlabeled boxes that I’m leaving for last,” she said pointedly as she peered over at his dad. He raised his hands in a ‘guilty-as-charged,’ gesture and Ryouta saw a small smile flit across his mother’s mouth.

“We should get going you don’t want to be late.”

The drive wasn’t too long, but Kise stared out the window for the whole time, taking in the new scenery and trying to think ‘this is home now.’

“If you need us to pick you up early we’ll come get you. It’ll be a fresh start, for all of us,” she said smiling at him as she snuck a peek in the rearview. His mother claimed that they’d always wanted to live further north. But his parents had never mentioned this aspiration before, and Kise saw it for the thinly veiled lie that it was. That wasn’t why they’d moved.

“Here we are,” his dad said as they pulled up in front of the school. The day was overcast.

“We’re just a phone call away,” his mom said reassuringly.

Kise opened the door and slung his bag onto his back.

“We love you,” his mom called out the window.

“Kaneko,” his dad said quietly. He leaned out of the driver’s side window. “Go get em champ.”

Kise nodded and turned towards the building. The walk to the front doors was unnerving.

Was it his imagination or were people whispering. He didn’t look down or to the side, he looked straight ahead. There in the center of the entrance hall was a big purple ball hanging from the ceiling. What. The. Fuck. Kise did not stop to investigate the weird art sculpture, instead he turned left and went straight into the waiting room for the principal’s office.

The front of the office had a small reception desk with a cat calendar on it. Little drawn cats frolicking about in a field. He stared at it before going over to the woman sitting behind the desk.

“Hi, I’m Kise Ryouta.”

“Kise welcome, I’m Barbara,” she said brightly. Kise noticed her hair was in a floppy bun and that she had more makeup caked on her face than there was sand in a desert.

“Mr. Miggis will be right with you, let me just let him know that you’ve arrived. You can take a seat while you wait.”

He gave her a small smile back and went to sit down in one of the wooden chairs. There were magazines all over the table. He looked until he found one on weight lifting and picked it up.

“Mr. Miggis will see you now.”

Kise walked into the principal’s office and prayed that he would never see the inside of this room again.

“Kise please come in.”

Mr. Miggis was a portly man, rotund and bubbly and when he shook Kise’s hand it was with extreme enthusiasm.

“We here at Teikou Academy are thrilled to have you. Absolutely thrilled. Please sit down and make yourself at home.”

Kise did not understand how these people could be so happy so early in the morning. And so happy to see someone that they didn’t know yet.

“I spoke with your mother on the phone about your situation.”

Kise stopped thinking at that and gave his full attention to Mr. Miggis, who was no longer smiling, but looking grave. “Certain things are not tolerated here. No sir, we have a very strong anti-bullying stance. So if you need anything, anything at all, my door is always open.”

“Thank you sir,” Kise said carefully.

“Oh please Kise, it’s Mr. Miggis or you can call me John. Many of the students do!”

Kise found that extremely hard to believe.

“Thank you Mr. Miggis,” he said again. And Mr. Miggis seemed happy enough with his word choice.

“Right so let’s get you settled, Miss Barbara outside has your schedule and all your course listings. And someone from the student council is coming to give you a tour. We have a wonderful student council,” Mr. Miggis continued as he stood up and opened the door back to the waiting room. “Barbara, can we give Kise his schedule?”

Barbara immediately pulled out a lavender folder that had “Welcome Ryouta Kise!” written on the front. Oh hell, they better not have bullying. Nothing said fresh meat like a fucking purple folder Kise thought.

“Ok so here is your schedule,” Barbara said as she handed him his course list. “And I already talked to your mom, she says that you have all of your textbooks?”

Kise nodded.

“Perrrrfect, Takao should be here to- oh Takao great timing!” she said as a series of knocks came to the open door.

“Hi Barbara! Mr. Miggis.”

He was shorter and looked really friendly.

“Takao this is Kise Ryouta. Kise this is Takao Kazunari, he’s a sophomore just like you!”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Kise said.

“You too you too,” Takao beamed. “All right well we’ll get going.”

Kise followed him out.

“So you just moved here?”

“Yeah,” Kise said. He tightened his backpack straps as they headed into the school.

“Well not gonna lie, it’s a pretty small town out here. We have about 300 students in the school so you get to know everyone real quick.”

Kise nodded again. He didn’t really know what to say, but either Takao didn’t notice or he didn’t mind.

“So we got our freshman and sophomore lockers on the left side and the junior senior lockers on the right. What’s your locker number?”

“Uh,” Kise rummaged in the purple folder. “88.”

“Ah just down here. Yep here it is.”

It looked like every other locker.

“Basically this is the math and science side,” Takao said as he gestured down the hall, and that way,” he whipped around, “by the senior junior lockers is history, English, languages, that kind of thing. All of your main classes are on this floor.” They walked further down the math and science side and Takao pointed out lab rooms, a mural made by the freshman last year at some volunteer event and a few club posters.

“Let’s head upstairs.”

They went up to the second floor and Kise was met with the cafeteria. Kise could see an area up ahead about halfway through the hall where the wall was no more and instead a rail was in place, he assumed that it looked out over the entrance hall.

“You have your student ID right?”

“Yeah it’s somewhere,” Kise grabbed his wallet to pull it out.

“Ok so when you go in you can use the ID card at the register to pay for your food, your parents can put money on it beforehand. So yeah that’s the cafeteria.”

They exited and continued on.

“This is the student council room,” Takao said as they stepped into a small room with a bunch of desks. “Hey Shin.”

“Takao, ah you must be the transfer student. Midorima Shintarou,” said a tall boy as he held out his hand for Kise to shake.

“Kise Ryouta.”

“Shin is the Secretary for the Student Council.”

Midorima nodded solemnly.

“Hey is el prez in? Or the VP?”

“Meeting in the back.”

“Ah ok well. Have you thought about what club you want to do yet?”

Kise hadn’t. “Uh not really, what clubs are there?”

“Ah sorry Shin we’ll catch you later,” Takao said as they bowed out. “Art, music, chorus, theater, photography, newspaper, werewolf support club, student council, lgbt+,”

“You have an lgbt club?” Kise said as he felt his palms sweat slightly.

“ _You kind of look like a woman Ryou-ta.”_

“Yeah! Well it’s an alliance club, so you don’t have to be lgbt+ to be in it. Anyone can come. Are you thinking of joining?”

“No,” Kise said firmly.

Takao’s eyes widened slightly and Kise realized how that must’ve sounded.

“It’s just that my old school didn’t have anything like that, I was just curious is what I meant,” he said hoping that it was enough to make him not seem like a jerk, but not enough to make him seem like he was gay.

“Ah yeah I know what you mean, well for any of the clubs you can stop in and check it out, except the werewolf club – which is mandatory for all the werewolves obviously, but for the others you can stop by and you don’t have to join right away.”

“Ok cool,” Kise said. He was just relieved that Takao didn’t seem to think that he was an asshole. “What sports do you have?”

“Oh, football, soccer, basketball, track, field, cross country, uh swim team. I want to do cross country but,” he gave a dramatic sigh, “I have to uphold my student council duties.”

“You can’t do both?”

“No time,” Takao shrugged as they made their way past an art room. “Ah this is our school mascot,” Takao said when they got to the railing. He’d turned so that they could look out over the entrance hall.

“What’s the mascot?” Kise said as he peered at the huge purple ball, but then oh.

“It’s this glorious bird!”

Kise realized that what he had mistaken to be a huge purple ball, maybe an art piece of pluto, was in fact a fat bird with the smallest poof of wings attached.

“We call him Squawker.”

“Squawker…” Kise said, he felt himself starting to smile, but immediately schooled his expression. Takao tilted his head to the side looking at him, but didn’t say anything. “That’s quite the name,” Kise said hastily as he turned back towards the hall.

“Well he’s quite the bird,” Takao chuckled.

Kise did smile then, down at his feet.

“And here’s the staircase back down. The gym’s in the basement so we’ll pop in there quick.”

The gym was actually pretty large and the facilities looked fairly knew, they also had a fitness center and a huge pool.

“Who’s your advisor?” Takao said as they came back up.

Kise shuffled his papers again. “Mr. Rockwell.”

“Oh he’s a science teacher. Kind of strict, but really good. You asked about sports teams right? Here are the signups,” Takao said when they reached the entrance hall. When Kise had arrived that morning there hadn’t been a lot of people, but now students were flooding in through the front doors.

“Hey Kazu!” yelled a boy with brown hair.

“Furi hey!” Takao yelled back as he waved.

“Takao,” came another voice from the entranceway. And then there were more people streaming in, and although he couldn’t tell who, he was sure werewolves too. Takao was saying hi to so many people that Kise couldn’t quite keep up. He must be one of those people that defied the social ladder. There had been kids like that at his school too. Although it was harder to know who was who when there were 500 kids in each grade.

After Takao showed him the signup boards he said that he had to dash off to a morning meeting for the student council.

“Thanks for all your help,” Kise said as he walked over to his locker. He could hear the chatter of students all around him now, their laughter filling the halls. Kise checked his schedule. Monday morning was homeroom, math, English literature, science and then Spanish. He separated his books out remembering that they didn’t have first period because there was an opening assembly for the start of the new school year. He shoved the rest of his stuff back into his bag. He had a photo of him and Kasamatsu that he wanted to put up in his locker, like a safeguard. But he didn’t dare. He slung his bag up and sighed as he clanged the locker shut.

“Hello.”

Kise jumped as he looked down into a pair of blue eyes.

“You must be the transfer student.”

Kise looked down, as if he’d see what had given him away. He was no longer holding the purple folder. Had he missed some sort of dress code memo?

“Hey,” came a louder voice, Kise startled as he looked up to see a guy with bright red hair. He was wearing basketball shorts. _“Hey beautiful.”_ Kise took a step back.

“Sorry,” he said as he felt his back hit the lockers.

The guy frowned slightly. “I’m Kagami Taiga,” he said as he waved a hand.

“I’m Kuroko Tetsuya.”

“What’s your name?” Kagami asked.

“Kise Ryouta.”

“Ryouta, I like that,” Kuroko said as he smiled kindly. “When did you move here?”

“Um just last week.” They didn’t seem hostile… he kept his arms in front of his chest.

“Dang that’s like, wow,” Kagami said. “You’re probably not even fully unpacked yet huh.”

“Not even close.” Kise noticed that the hallways were clearing.

“Ah homeroom. Who’d you get?” Kagami said as he came closer. Kise tried to back away slightly but then remembered that he was already up against the lockers.

“Mr. Rockwell.”

“Hey you’re with Kuroko!” Kagami said as he smiled brightly. “Well come on let’s get going.” They walked over to where the classrooms were, Kagami bowing out when he got to his homeroom and Kise following Kuroko into Mr. Rockwell’s science room.

Mr. Rockwell made some announcements and then they went off to the gym for assembly. They sang the school song, they heard some speeches, they mentally prepared for the school year and then it was off to second period English literature for Kise. They were going to be reading The Great Gatsby. Kise had already started it, but thought that it was kind of dull. At least it was easy to understand.

Finally it hit 12:00 which meant lunch time. Kise was not looking forward to the affair. He wanted nothing more than to eat alone. He grit his teeth and walked into the cafeteria. It was already packed by the time that he’d made his way over to the food lines. They had hot food, a salad bar, sandwiches, desserts and snack items. He grabbed a sandwich and a bag of chips before queuing up. He only had one option: get something portable and go find like a bench. He wasn’t out to make friends, attempting to make friends hadn’t helped him at all at his last school. He scanned the tables. It was kind of hard to tell who was who. There were a few tables of all girls, and actually now that he came to think of it, if he were in the market for a group then one with both boys and girls would probably be his best option, the guys were less likely to harass him in front of their girlfriends. None of this mattered though because he was going to get the hell out-

“Kise!”

He looked up, his heart pounding as he saw Kagami waving to him. Oh no… not again. Kise had stared too long to pretend that he hadn’t seen him. He paid for his food and went over to where Kagami was waiting for him. Shit.

“Hey,” Kise said evenly as he reached Kagami.

“Do you have anyone to sit with yet?”

Kise shook his head numbly.

“Great! You can join me and Kuroko.”

Kise followed Kagami wordlessly to a table full of boys near the windows, not a girl in sight. He had a bad feeling about this. Kuroko was sitting across from a boy with black hair covering half of his face and a huge monster of a guy with purple hair who had an even larger mountain of food in front of him. Kise was actually terrified. This guy could probably kill him. And although he didn’t want to assume, it was hard to imagine a human growing that big by this age.

Everyone knew that when werewolves hit their teens they bulked up like they were taking steroids. Before high school most werewolves were in separate schools, it was just too hard for them to control their strength. But in high school all the schools were mixed. Well Kise had heard of some wacko schools that only took werewolves, something about superiority. And the schools that only took humans, for a similarly ludicrous reason: no animals allowed. But Kise had still met a few werewolves before high school.

Kagami took the seat next to Kuroko and gestured for Kise to sit on Kagami’s other side. Kise took the hint and sat down.

“Hello,” said that boy with the black hair.

“Hi,” Kise said.

“I’m Himuro Tatsuya.”

He was really beautiful Kise thought and he realized sickeningly that he probably attracted the same sort of attention that Kise did, Kise’s eyes flitted to the purple-haired giant sitting next to him and he felt his pulse quicken.

“I’m Kise Ryouta,” he said to Himuro.

“Atsushi,” Himuro said as he brushed his fingers over the purple-haired boy’s hand. The guy looked up at Himuro placidly and held out his snacks. Himuro smiled but just shook his head. “Atsushi this is the transfer student, Kise. Kise this is Murasakibara Atsushi.”

Murasakibara turned to him and held out a hand. Kise took it awkwardly across the table. Murasakibara passed an individually wrapped cracker to him.

“Oh, thank you,” Kise said slightly startled as he looked between Himuro and Murasakibara. Privately thinking that hulking werewolves didn’t just casually hang out with beauties. And this Murasakibara seemed to have a voracious appetite, maybe it extended past food. There was something weird about how close they were sitting.

“So Kise how’s your first day going?” Himuro asked.

“It’s going fine,” Kise said. “The classes are good so far.”

“Frickin Haizaki,” came an annoyed voice. Kise looked up just in time to see a guy swing down into the seat next to him. “What a dick,” the guy said.

“Aomine don’t just bust in here and start talking,” Kagami said.

“Hah?” Aomine said. Kise hadn’t missed the basketball shorts on this guy either. He seemed oblivious and rude, and Kise was extremely aware that he was now stuck sitting between two guys who were most likely basketball buffs. The guy turned to Kise giving him a strange look.

“Who are you?” the guy said. Kise stared back, he would not show fear.

“Kise Ryouta.”

“M Aomine Daikfi,” he said as he ripped into a hamburger. Kise didn’t know what to think about this guy who was now stuffing his face. It might’ve been comical if he wasn’t so busy trying not to somehow fuck things up.

“I think I saw you in my English class,” Kuroko said. Kise was glad for the distraction as he looked at Kuroko.

“Oh, cool,” Kise said.

“And we have Spanish together.”

They did? He didn’t remember seeing him in either class. One class was ok, but not noticing someone in two….

Aomine bust up laughing and then the whole table was snickering. “Oh your face,” Aomine said as he leaned back his mouth still full of half-chewed burger.

Kise felt his face burning, he didn’t know what the joke was, but he knew that it was at his expense. He felt slightly nauseous and he looked down at his barely touched sandwich.

“It’s ok,” Himuro said quietly. “They’re not laughing at you,” he said. The table fell silent.

“What? No of course not,” Kagami said as he reached out to pat Kise’s shoulder.

Kise had instinctively clutched his ribs; they were what had taken the longest to heal.

“No I just, I feel kind of… I don’t feel well,” he said as he stood up quickly, avoiding Kagami’s hand entirely. “I think that I should head to the nurses office.”

“Oh no it’s-”

But whatever Kagami was trying to say he didn’t hear. He’d grabbed his bag and extricated himself as fast as possible from his seat. He wasn’t going to the nurse’s office, definitely not. He hurried out of the cafeteria, afraid that someone might follow him, that they could _smell_ his fear. He needed to find someplace where people wouldn’t think to look for him. He made his way down to the pool, went into the locker room, got into a stall, hoisted his feet up onto the lid of the toilet and held his bag against his chest. _He has three broken ribs, a concussion and a lot of bruising. It’s a good thing that the teacher found him when he did otherwise he might’ve had permanent damage from the trauma._

He hugged his bag tighter. He could feel the familiar sting behind his eyes and he closed them trying to even out his breathing.

* * *

“Oh no it’s nothing bad,” Kagami had started to say, but before he could finish Kise had whipped out of the cafeteria. He was so fast for a human. They all stared after him. Aomine had risen out of his seat to follow. Kagami could feel how terrified Kise was, but he couldn’t understand why. He saw his confusion mirrored on Aomine’s face and he looked over to Murasakibara who had clearly not been paying attention to his own heightened senses.

“Aomine I don’t think that you should,” Kuroko said worriedly as Aomine looked ready to bolt after Kise.

“We weren’t laughing at him,” Kagami said. “Why would he think that we were making fun of him?”

No one had an answer.

“Shouldn’t someone go after him though?” Kagami said. He felt bad now. He hadn’t meant to make fun of him. It was just that the look of horror had been so amusing considering that no one ever noticed Kuroko, that it was obvious to everyone that even if Kise were the most observant person in the world, he probably still wouldn’t have been able to see Kuroko, hell even werewolves couldn’t sense his presence.

“I’ll take care of it,” Himuro said as he stood up. Murasakibara held his wrist loosely. “I’ll be right back.” Murasakibara let go of him.

The table watched as he went over to where the Student Council usually sat.

Kagami was thinking hard as he watched Himuro go. When he’d met Kise that morning, he’d seemed defensive when Kagami came over, almost scared. And now Kagami had smelled something almost foreign on him. It was like he felt badly about… about something, but Kagami was so unfamiliar with whatever that scent was that he couldn’t place it. It made him uneasy. And worst of all was the knowledge that somehow they had been responsible for those feelings, and that they were probably not the ones who could help. No matter how much they- Kagami jumped as Aomine’s fist slammed into the table.

“Stop thinking so much, it’s making you reek,” Aomine said angrily.

Kagami stared at him realizing that Aomine smelled furious. Aomine’s gaze cut over to where Nijimura had just gotten up after listening to Himuro. Kagami could feel Aomine’s feelings of frustration intensify.

***

“Kise? Are you in here.”

Kise froze all over again. There were only ten minutes left until class and he had just been getting ready to exit his stall, his feet already on the ground. The voice that echoed off the locker room was unfamiliar.

“My name is Nijimura Shuuzou, I’m the president of the student council. I’m not going to hurt you, but if you’re in here I just want to talk. You’re not in any trouble.”

Kise unlocked the stall door and looked out. The boy who was standing there must be a senior he thought. He looked regal, elegant.

“Himuro told me about what happened at lunch.”

Kise nodded as he edged out of the stall.

“You know Kuroko Tetsuya has an uncanny ability to go unnoticed.”

Kise didn’t quite understand.

“People won’t see him walking down the hall towards them, or hear him approaching from behind. Some people call him a phantom,” Nijimura said as he smiled softly.

Kise waited, digesting what Nijimura was saying.

“So if he were to tell someone that they had class together, it would be inevitable that that person wouldn’t have noticed him in the slightest. Everyone who knows about his ability to disappear wouldn’t care if they realized that they hadn’t noticed that Kuroko was in their class. But if say he met someone for the first time and he told them that they shared a class…”

Kise understood.

“And then if that person looked totally mortified that they hadn’t noticed him, it would be quite amusing, because everyone else would know that it wasn’t that persons fault, that there would be no way for him to know that Kuroko had this strange ability.”

He felt slightly ashamed as he realized that he’d totally ruined any chances of friendship with those people now, not that he wanted to be friends with them, but Kuroko and Himuro did seem nice. Maybe Nijimura was right, no Kise was sure that he was right, that they hadn’t meant any harm, but now they must think that he was a freak for sure.

“Kise, the guys that you sat with, although some of them can be a bit careless,” the face of Aomine swam into his minds eye, “they aren’t bad. They were really worried about you.”

“I understand,” Kise said as he straightened up. “Thank you,” he said quietly.

“If you need anything else,” Nijimura said.

Kise nodded, privately thinking that he was not going to run to the arms of the student council president every time someone made fun of him.

“All right we need to get to class.”

Kise hurried to his history class. He was extremely thankful that it was the first day, because he hadn’t had time to switch out his books, but he didn’t need the textbook this time. Either way he wasn’t paying attention. It was really rude to ask if someone was a werewolf, which Kise thought was completely unfair. Werewolves could sense who was a werewolf and a human, but it’s not like Kise could tell just by looking at someone. But Nijimura had found him, and Kise wanted to know if it was because he was giving off some sort of terrified smell or not. And what about the rest of them? Which ones could sense how he felt? He felt like his privacy was being invaded. Even now his emotions were going haywire. What if every werewolf in this class could smell his distress? He tried to calm down as the bell rang and he headed over to the locker room for gym, but he was still out of sorts by the time that he got to the lower level.

Their P.E. teacher, Cal, told them to get changed and meet out on the track in five.

“Hey Kise.”

Kise turned around to see Kagami coming into the locker room. His brows were furrowed and he looked worried.

“I’m really sorry about lunch.”

“No it’s ok,” Kise said quickly. “Nijimura explained, it seems that I misunderstood.”

He felt uncomfortable his heart going a mile a minute, and it seemed that Kagami did too, they were silent for a minute.

“You forgot your lunch.”

Kagami and Kise both jumped as Kuroko appeared holding up Kise’s mostly uneaten food. “And you both need to hurry up,” Kuroko added as he passed off the lunch and headed outside already fully changed.

Kise hurried into the locker room, stuffed the food in his gym locker, made for a stall and quickly stripped down before putting on his gym clothes and heading to the track.

There was stretching, and jumping jacks, and running, and pushups and sit-ups. Kise was thanking his father internally for making him do morning runs as he raced around the track and kept up with the rest of the gym class. Kuroko on the other hand seemed to be verging on collapse, Kagami shooting him covert looks of concern throughout the whole class. It was quite funny to watch actually. Kise smiled to himself as they stretched for their cool down.

They showered and changed at the end of class and finally the day was over. Kise felt like the day had lasted a lifetime. He made his way back to his locker and repacked his bag while inhaling the remainder of his lunch. He didn’t have too much homework.

“Kise.”

Kise jumped, but turned towards Kuroko, this time recovering a little faster than he had before.

“Some of us are going to Maji Burger to celebrate the first day of school. Would you like to join us?”

Kise hesitated. “Maybe next time,” he finally said. “I should go home and help unpack.”

“Ok, see you tomorrow.”

“Bye.”

Kise headed out to the school bus. His parents had driven him in the morning at his mother’s insistence. But he’d be taking the school bus from here on out. He was exhausted. It hadn’t been all bad, actually considering how bad it could’ve gone, it actually went kind of well. A part of him had wanted to go out with Kuroko after school, but another part of him said that he shouldn’t, shouldn’t just fly in recklessly. No matter what Nijimura said, he didn’t want to make a mistake that might lead to another living hell. He was 100% positive that if it started all over again he wouldn’t survive. Not because he thought that someone would finally kick his ass for real, but because he couldn’t take it. Not a second time. He sighed as he stared out the window of the bus. He’d written down his stop so that he wouldn’t accidentally miss it. The bus creaked around the hills and down winding roads. It was nothing like the city that he’d lived in before. The cold, the hills and the evergreens all so foreign to him.

It took him awhile to get the key to work just right, but finally he was able to get inside.

“Mom?”

“Ryouta, how was it?” She said earnestly.

“Good,” he said stoutly. He’d known that the interrogation was coming, so he’d prepared accordingly.

“Did you make any friends?”

“Maybe,” he said. “I met some people from the student council and I talked to some of the boys in my classes.” Well or they had talked to him.

He saw his mom’s shoulders relax as she smiled at him.

“That’s great news. Do you want a snack?”

“I’m ok,” he’d just eaten his lunch after all. “Have you been unpacking all day?”

“Yes and I went to the grocery store. Come look at the kitchen.”

There were still boxes sitting on the countertops, but other than that it looked almost completely set up.

“Nice,” Kise said as he looked around. His mom seemed pleased and said that he could go up to his room if he wanted. He did want. He flopped down on his bed.

He hadn’t meant to fall asleep, but before he knew it his mom was knocking on his door.

“Ryouta? Dinner’s ready.”

“Coming,” he said as he got up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and headed downstairs.

“Smells good,” he said as he sniffed the air.

“Pork cutlet, rice, salad, and brussel sprouts,” his mom said happily.

“Where’s dad?”

“In the garage,” she said rolling her eyes. “He really wants to find his fishing gear, but he doesn’t know which box it’s in.” She raised her eyebrows.

“He should’ve labeled,” Kise said knowingly.

“Exactly. Anyways he said that we could go ahead. I’m afraid that the dining room table isn’t clear yet, but we can eat in the kitchen or the living room.”

Kise’s dad had set up the TV on the second day that they’d moved into their new house. His mom liked to watch British murder mysteries so they turned one on during dinner. Usually they didn’t during the week, but since they’d moved the routine had been kind of up in the air. Kise figured that because she’d been unpacking all-day, she wanted to zone out just as much as he did.

After dinner he helped his mom put the food away and clean the dishes.

He didn’t have a lot of homework, but he still had to do it. At 11 he finally got into bed.

Tomorrow he’d have to do it all again. He didn’t want to go to school. Didn’t want to have to think so much about what he was doing, about how he smelled.

He rolled onto his side and pulled the covers up.


	2. The LGBT Super Squad or A Punch to the Solar Plexus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a piano song in the story. I've linked it [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmShn1F7tUE) if you're curious, but it's not really necessary to listen to it for the sake of the story :)

“I don’t think that the transfer student likes us,” Kagami said as he opened his first burger.

“What’s he like!” said Momoi eagerly. “I saw him in the hall and he looks like he has a good build.”

“He’s kind of weird,” said Aomine. “Like he kept looking over at Murasakibara in terror.”

“Hey,” Kuroko said.

Aomine stopped talking and gulped, Kuroko always got pissed when he let slip his perception of other people’s emotions due to his werewolf senses. Kuroko said that it was rude to just tell everyone what he smelled about people, especially if those people wanted privacy. Aomine wasn’t very good at keeping to that rule though.

“Daiki, I’m very impressed that you noticed something like that,” Momoi said as she grinned.

“Jeez don’t act so surprised that I use my nose and eyes.”

“We should ask him to eat with us tomorrow too,” Kuroko said.

“Daiki you need to get him!” Momoi said.

“Get him?”

“For the team you ass! I want him on the basketball team.”

“Fine fine whatever stop yelling.”

“Don’t just say fine. You better convince him Daiki,” she said as she got up in his face.

“Jesus yes O. fucking. K.”

***

_“Hey Ryou-ta,” someone whispered behind him. He shivered as he turned around to stare at the face that was much too close to his._

_“I just need a little fix.”_

 

Kise rolled over in his bed.

_"… it’s intoxicating.”_

_intoxicating_

_intoxicating_

_intoxicating_

His alarm went off at 6:00 and for a moment he didn’t know where he was. The face from his dream swimming in his minds eye. Through sheer force of will he got up out of bed feeling distinctly unrested.

***

They ran two miles on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. He showered to wake himself up, a great need to be alert in the mornings had gripped him ever since he’d started high school the year before. He pulled on a long sleeve blue henley that was extremely comfortable. His black skinny jeans weren’t too tight, but they gave him the illusion of being encased, protected.

He hurried downstairs to where his mom was making breakfast.

“Good job today slugger,” his dad said from his seat at the counter.

“Thanks.”

“Pretty soon you’ll be faster than your old man.”

Kise smiled, he doubted that that would ever happen. His dad was a workout buff and somehow age just seemed to make him better.

Five minutes later, his dad was out of the door and off to work. Kise took a little longer to get out. He walked over to the bus stop and waited for his school bus hoping that there was an empty seat. That he wouldn’t sit in someone else’s seat. But when he got on no one glared at him and actually the bus wasn’t that crowded so he figured that he was safe squashed into his seat near the back. After a half hour they pulled up outside of the school. He wasn’t entirely sure what would happen today. Nijimura had said that the guys that he’d sat with at lunch were good, but even if they were nice they might not be able to get past the fact that Kise was a freak. And then of course there was the whole wide world of all the other students that he had yet to meet.

He went to his locker.

“Good morning Kise.”

He looked up to see Himuro and the giant. Himuro had waved to him before continuing on down the hall. Kise waved back unsure how to feel. It had seemed like a genuine hello. He sighed before turning back into his locker and staring at it. He snapped out of his daze as soon as he realized that he had been stationary for over a minute. He quickly shoved in his books and shut his locker at top speed.

“Wow,” someone said from behind him. It was Aomine… Aomine something. “You're really fast huh.”

Kise shrugged. “It’s uh Aomine right?”

“Yeah, do you play sports?”

“I was thinking of doing cross country.”

“What about winter?”

“I hadn’t really um decided yet.” He held his bag in front of him and Aomine seemed to notice, his eyes slightly troubled before clearing.

“You should try out for basketball, you’re pretty tall, and,” Aomine stepped closer, and Kise felt his breath quicken. “Satsuki wouldn’t shut up about you yesterday.”

“Who’s Satsuki?”

“Oh the manager, she said that you look like you have the right build for the court and made me promise to try and recruit you, so you know if you see her,” Aomine gestured to his eyes, “make sure to tell her that I did my bit. Later.”

Aomine was gone before Kise could quite register what had just happened. Wait who the hell was Satsuki? How could he possibly reassure her that Aomine had talked to him, when Kise had no idea what she looked like? What a weird guy. And also he was definitely not joining. And, more importantly, what if this Satsuki went back to Aomine claiming that Kise hadn’t told her that Aomine had told him that Satsuki wanted him on the team. And then Aomine might come back and get pissed off. Kise was walking around completely oblivious to the outside world until he reached his homeroom and snapped out of it.

Homeroom was pretty much the same as it had been the day before, so were the rest of his classes. When Kise got to Spanish he was early enough to flop down at the back table.

“Hi.” Kise jumped up at Kuroko’s voice. He’d sat down right next to him without even realizing it.

“Good morning,” he said hesitantly before hurrying to get his stuff out. “How was the burger place?” curse his need to talk. He shouldn’t even be engaging someone who hung out with a bunch of, possibly, werewolf jocks.

“It was good. We go quite often.”

Ah so next time he could go, but he wouldn’t. Kise decided to just not say anything.

Finally lunchtime came. Kise got the same thing that he’d gotten the day before, and even though he could hear the table calling over to him he left to go look for a bench outside.

“He ignored you,” Kagami said to Himuro.

“Maybe he just didn’t hear me.”

Aomine let out a bark of laughter.

“He fucking ignored you,” Aomine said.

“Who?”

“No one Atsushi,” Himuro said. But Murasakibara had already turned in his seat looking murderous. “Please stop,” Himuro whispered

Murasakibara turned back around.

“I don’t like it when people are mean to you.”

“He’s not being mean ok?”

Murasakibara looked unconvinced but nodded his acknowledgment.

***

Kise fell into a rhythm. He’d wake up, run with his dad or just go straight to showering and then go to school. He ate his lunch outside and avoided the other students, but still said hi to Himuro and Kuroko in the halls, who at least hadn’t laughed at him or gotten all up in his space. He hadn’t met the elusive Satsuki yet, but that was fine by him. And after the first week cross country started up. Kuroko, Kagami, Himuro and Aomine were also on the team so he did talk to them sometimes during practice. But mostly he let them talk. They seemed satisfied just with having him kind of hang around with them.

***

He was walking down the hall after cross country to look for his copy of The Great Gatsby when he saw it sitting there, it’s keys like glass in the darkening sky. They still didn't have one at home yet. He hesitated and then slipped into the music room. He sat down on the bench and let his fingers touch the keys lightly not pressing down, just feeling them. His breaths were shaky.

_“When you can’t see your fingers anymore, that’s how you know.”_

_“How you know?”_

_“That you’re amazing.”_

It wasn’t the hardest song that he knew, or the most famous, or the fastest, but he knew it by memory, always by memory. He let his fingers find their way home as he padded across the piano. At the beginning it was slow and high, like waking up from a deep sleep. And he felt like he had been sleeping, before it got faster and deeper, rising from his fingertips until it became light again. Repeating, repeating, always repeating until it faded into a hopeful lull, like a bird perched on the edge of the unknown. Wanting to fly. He let the song come down, slow again in it’s middle before welling up at the end. He closed his eyes, not needing to see, just feel: the keys, the wind coming in through the window, the music inside that had built up like a dam.

He couldn’t stop. The first song turning into the second. The third.

The fourth.

He let his fingers slip off of the keys. He was shaking slightly. He jumped up as a clap of thunder sounded. Shit the bus. He grabbed his bag and ran out of the room and down to the front hall.

***

Aomine hadn’t meant to, but he’d never heard anyone in the school play like that. He wasn’t really interested in the piano, classical music put him to sleep more than anything else, but he was curious as he stood outside the door and listened. He peered in after standing still for a few minutes, he just wanted to know who… Kise was sitting on the bench with his eyes closed. Aomine could see the dark clouds outside, it had begun to rain, but he didn’t care about that, because there was Kise looking like he was actually enjoying something for once. Aomine resisted the urge to sniff out how he felt, instead turning around to go downstairs. He felt out of sorts, like he’d seen something that he shouldn’t have.

“Aomine where’d you disappear to?” Kagami said when Aomine finally made it to the entrance hall.

“Nowhere. Ready?”

He could hear Kagami mumbling, but they dashed out to the car with Kuroko.

“Shit it’s really coming down,” Kagami said as he put the car in reverse.

Aomine saw the school bus pull out ahead of them. Kise wouldn’t have made it. He felt a moment of panic.

“Wait,” he said. “I think that Kise’s still inside.”

“Kise?”

“Yeah, I didn’t see him leave, but the school bus is gone now right?”

“Oh,” Kagami said as he put the car in park and looked back at Aomine in the rearview. “He takes the school bus?”

Aomine wasn’t actually sure.

“I’ll go check,” Kuroko said.

Aomine knew that it would be faster if he told them where Kise was, but he didn’t want it known that he’d heard him playing.

***

“Kise!”

“Kuroko,” he said panting as he looked out at the raging storm.

“The bus left.”

“What?” No, how was he supposed to get home?

“Kagami can give you a ride, but we should go before it gets worse.”

“Are you sure it’s ok?”

“Of course,” and Kise almost thought that he saw a smile. “We have to run for it.”

They dashed outside to where Kagami’s car was sitting at the entrance waiting for them.

Kise flew into the back seat already soaked from only a few seconds outside.

“It’s freezing,” he said as he grabbed his seatbelt.

“Yeah,” Kagami said as he put the car in drive.

“Hey Aomine,” Kise said as he noticed the other boy in the backseat with him.

“Hey,” he said easily.

“Kagami thanks for giving me a ride, I completely forgot about the bus.”

“How’d you forget about the bus?”

“I- uh I went to go get my copy of- fuck,” he’d completely forgotten about The Great Gatsby and he needed to read for tomorrow. He wondered if he could find a copy online.

“What did you forget?”

“My book for English.”

“You can borrow mine,” Kagami said.

“Don’t you need it though?”

“I don’t have class tomorrow.”

“Oh. Ok, yeah if, if that’s ok.”

“Sure. Kise where do you live?”

“Oh right.” Kise rattled off the address.

“Ok I’ll drop you off first.”

By the time that Kise made it through the front door it was after 6.

“Ryouta where have you been!”

“Oh, OH, mom I’m sorry I forgot to call. I stayed a little later at school and missed the bus.”

She was looking at him as if she had been worried sick.

“I’m really sorry that I forgot to call, after cross country I stayed for a little while to play the piano… and then some guys from the team offered me a ride home when I missed the bus.”

“Ok,” she said as she sat down looking worn out. “Just remember to call in the future.”

“Yeah I’m sorry mom.”

“It’s ok. And Ryouta,”

“Yes?”

“We’re still getting a piano ok? We just need to settle in first.”

“No I know, thanks mom.”

Outside the trio sped off away from Kise.

“Did he seem kind of….?” Kagami said.

“Enthusiastic.” Kuroko said.

“Yeah, I’ve never heard him talk so much.”

“It was almost like he actually liked us,” Aomine said, feeling annoyed.

***

“Takao I’m going to drive over to Krispy Crème,” Himuro said after school.

“Right.”

Takao went to his car to get out the paper plates, napkins, plastic utensils, and cups that he’d gotten the day before. He put up the LGBT+ banner in the classroom that they used for club and then stepped back to make sure that it was straight.

“Takao, hey.”

“Kagami, suppp.”

“Nothing, I just want to go to sleep.”

“Is Kuroko coming?”

“I’m already here.”

Takao turned to see Kuroko sitting two seats away from Kagami.

“Sorry…. How long have you been here?”

Kuroko shrugged, “since Himuro left.”

Takao nodded slowly as he turned back to his clipboard.

“Is Aomine still not coming?”

“Nope, bastard,” Kagami said as he laid down across three seats.

“What is this our living room?” Himuro asked.

“Donuts, gimme,” Kagami said as he launched himself back into a sitting position.

Himuro twisted so that the box was out of reach.

“Freshmen first.”

“I wonder how many people we’ll have?”

“Like five so donut me.”

“N.o.”

“Hi,” came a singsong voice.

“Momoi! Welcome,” said Takao as he went to hug her.

“Where is everybody?”

“I’m not sure. A lot of the freshman and sophomores, can’t get out of practice for other clubs,” Takao said.

“Let’s be honest, even though our school is pretty good about this kind of thing, kids still don’t want to go to gay club,” Kagami said.

“People do tend to assume things, and stop calling it gay club,” Momoi said frowning slightly. “We’re an ally club too.”

“Yeah but how many allies actually attend.”

Momoi raised her hand.

“That’s one.”

Takao sat down and watched the door.

“Let’s give it a few more minutes,” Himuro said.

At cross country practice Kise looked around slightly confused. Kagami, Kuroko and Himuro were missing. Why were they ditching? Were they ok?

“They’re at LGBT club,” came a voice behind him. Kise jumped, startled out of his musings.

“Aomine….”

He was stretching as if he had no opinions on the matter. Kise started stretching too if only to distract himself so that he wouldn’t ask why Aomine didn’t go with them. It was an ally club right? So if he asked why he didn’t go it would be ok….

“Sometimes the coach will let you ditch once a week if you have another club,” Aomine said.

Kise almost fell over. He hadn’t been expecting Aomine to say anything more.

“I don’t- I mean I’m not-” Kise said awkwardly. His cheeks were heating up.

“What’re you saying?” Aomine asked looking confused and annoyed.

“Nothing,” Kise said as he went to go stand between some of the other runners.

What was his issue with Kise? Why did he have to pressure Kise into going to fucking LGBT club? Just because of how he looked it didn’t mean that he was gay.

After they ran the coach told them to get their asses on the grass and do sit-ups. Kise was so worked up that he wanted to punch something. All of a sudden he was just done with Aomine. He didn’t quite know why he was so frustrated, but he was. He was annoyed and wanted to give him a piece of his mind.

“Kise let’s partner up.”

Kise clenched his fists, still breathing hard from running, he turned towards Aomine who was standing there without a care in the world. Like he hadn’t 30 minutes prior tried to tell Kise that he was probably gay.

‘I don’t want to,’ is what he wanted to say. But he just sat down on the grass considering how much force he’d have to use to punch Aomine out cold.

“Fine,” he said as he gestured for Aomine to get into sit-up position.

Aomine was ridiculously good at everything cross country related. Kise couldn't keep up with him in sit-ups, or pushups and even though he’d tried to run just as fast, Aomine had still beaten him. He had to be a fucking werewolf.

Finally practice finished.

Kise always waited until everyone else had left the changing room before he changed. But today Aomine was lingering behind like a parasite.

Kise fiddled with his bag. He drank a lot of water. He went to pee. And still Aomine was standing around shirtless, yawning and acting like he didn’t have a care in the world.

“Why aren’t you leaving?” Kise said as he finally dropped all pretense.

Aomine stared at him. “I was waiting for you.”

“Why?”

“Because we’re friends?”

Kise blinked at him. They were not friends. They’d talked like twice. He was so pissed as he went to the shower that he forgot to put his shirt on in the other room, and when he came back in his fluffy white towel Aomine looked up. Kise could practically see his eyes on him as he turned towards his locker. And then Kise flinched, but it was too late. He couldn’t cover up the scarring on his back.

“What happened?” Aomine asked.

Kise put his shirt on shakily, his mind racing. He put on his boxers and then took off the towel to put on the rest of his clothes before turning around.

“Nothing happened,” he said and then he left.

***

Aomine didn’t follow. What made long slashes like that? His mind supplied the image of a claw tearing through flesh and he felt cold. What had happened to Kise? Aomine realized for the first time that he’d never seen Kise change in front of him before. He must always wait for everyone else to leave. Kuroko and Kagami had gym with him, they would’ve mentioned it if they’d seen it – so he must just not change in front of anyone. And then he remembered Kise playing the piano. Aomine had mentioned the club thing because he thought that Kise probably wanted to join the music club, but he’d seemed so seriously pissed all through practice that maybe he didn’t. Maybe music really was something private to him. What’d Aomine care? It was none of his fucking business. So why did he want it to be his business?

He got up, remembering that Kagami and Kuroko were waiting for him. Wait… he checked his watch. Fuck Kise had missed his bus AGAIN. Aomine bolted up the stairs.

***

Kagami and Kuroko were on the hood of Kagami’s car waiting for Aomine to finish practice.

“Look,” Kuroko said.

Kagami had been lying down, but he got up to follow Kuroko’s line of sight. Kise was stalking across the parking lot.

“Hasn’t the bus already left?”

“Yeah,” Kuroko said, eyes wide.

“Kise!”

They turned to see Aomine tearing out of the school faster than humanly possible and yelling after him.

“Idiot,” Kagami muttered. He saw Aomine’s eyes flit to him. Damn he’d heard him.

Kise turned to look at Aomine, slowly walking backwards as Aomine chased after him.

“Hey wait!”

Aomine caught up to Kise, easily. They could see Kise saying something but only Kagami could hear from where they were, he knew that he shouldn’t listen in, it wasn’t polite, but he did it anyway.

***

“What?”

“You missed your bus.”

Kise stared at him.

“I’m going to walk.”

“Don’t be stupid, Kagami can give you a ride. They always wait for me.”

“What, after gay kid club?” Kise said. Fuck he hadn’t meant to say it. Aomine was staring at him like he couldn’t believe what Kise had just said either. And then as if Kise couldn’t control it, “I didn’t, I didn’t mean it like that. But I’m not going to skip cross country so that I can join the LGBT super squad,” he said fiercely.

“Who’s asking you to go to LGBT club?” Aomine said, now looking bewildered.

“You! ‘you can skip practice you know,’” Kise said in a bad imitation of Aomine’s usual drawl. “I’m not going to. Just because I look like a girl doesn’t mean I’m fucking gay so layoff already!” He whipped around to leave, when he felt something grab his arm lightning fast.

Maybe it was because it was this time of year last year that it had first happened. Or maybe it was because he was so confused and frustrated at the way Aomine seemed to get under his skin. Or maybe it was merely because he had kept everything in for so long, tried his damndest not to let anyone know what had happened, and yet Aomine had still seen the claw mark and would assume wrongfully and rightfully that something had happened.

“Don’t fucking touch me!” he yelled. And then he punched Aomine in the solar plexus.

Aomine didn’t move and Kise’s eyes widened in shock.

“You are a werewolf…” he said as he backed up.

Kise could hear someone yelling, but his own thoughts were too loud. He could hear running and then he felt someone grab him from behind.

“What are you doing?” Kagami roared.

“Get off me, get the FUCK OFF ME!” Kise yelled. He was struggling, the vision of a bathroom swimming into focus. Aomine wasn’t even hurt.

_You don’t really want me to stop though do you?_

“Stop I said stop!”

_You were made for werewolves. You like it, that’s why you smell so good when you’re afraid._

“I don’t I don’t I don’t!”

Someone _pressing_ against _his_ back.

He couldn’t breathe. He knew that someone was talking, saying something. But all he could see was the tiled floor, no the parking lot. He couldn’t. couldn’t

 

Breathe

 

There were big pale eyes in front of him.

“Breathe Kise, just breathe.”

He recognized the eyes but he didn’t know who it was.

He tried to focus on the voice telling him to breathe, just breathe. And there was a light touch on his upper back, soothing him.

Just breathe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! For those of you who have read my short stories you know that I've been having some real bad writer's block, which was finally destroyed through this story. Because of that I wanted to try and write quite a bit of this before I posted - so I have about 30 pages that I'm editing (ﾉ≧∀≦)ﾉ  
> I might have some pretty fast updates at the beginning, but it'll slow down a lil later (*´∀`*) so uh yesssssss  
> Let me know if you have any writing suggestions to make it better (weird grammar things or ways to make it smoother are always appreciated!)


	3. The Orgasmic Burger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We start off with Kagami's POV of the great Solar Plexus Punch!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello loveys! 
> 
> I just have a few quick notes about terms/pack rules used in this chapter:  
> • Packs have human members. This means that 1) werewolf x werewolf couples can have human or werewolf children. And 2) werewolf x human couples can have human or werewolf children. But two humans, who have no werewolf ancestors won't have any werewolf children.  
> • Packmates are anyone who is in the same pack as one another  
> 

They had a split seconds warning of what Kise was about to do. It had been clear that they were fighting, but it wasn’t until Kise yelled at Aomine that they knew. Kagami and Kuroko both flew off the hood of the car, Kagami getting there in a less than a second and grabbing Kise around the middle while Kuroko came up much more slowly and went to Aomine to see if he was ok.

“What are you doing?” Kagami said as he tried to hold Kise back.

Kise was yelling at him to get off, fighting tooth and nail and getting increasingly erratic in his attempts to break free.

Kagami didn't know that something was wrong at first, but then Aomine was sidestepping Kuroko, “put him down.” Kagami let go as Kise yelled again.

“Stop I said stop!” Kise’d fallen to the floor and was on his hands and knees shaking and gasping for breath. Kagami hadn’t been restricting any of his air passages so why-

“I don’t I don’t I don’t!”

Kagami froze staring at Kise who was making no sense, distress and fear pouring off of him. Kagami felt the need to protect, to make it all better, but he didn’t dare move as Kuroko shook his head slightly as if to tell him that he’d only make it worse. Kuroko slipped in front of Kise and stuck his face right in front of him telling him to breathe.

Kagami could sense Aomine’s strange feelings of hurt and something else that Kagami couldn’t identify. Kagami looked at him, silently asking what was going on. Aomine just crouched down and started stroking Kise’s back consolingly. Kagami was sure that Aomine had never done anything like that before. Just what exactly was happening?

***

Akashi Seijuurou was up in the student council office looking down over the scene in the parking lot. His hearing was exceptionally well developed for someone his age, as well as his ability to sense others emotions and identify them. This wasn’t typical. Many full grown werewolves had trouble controlling their own power, and sometimes even when they could smell certain emotions, they couldn’t identify them. But not so with Akashi. He had a keen sense of the feelings of those around him, and it was much farther reaching than was normal. He could pick people out in a crowd, he could sense them from far off. And in the case of Kise Ryouta that boy had more confusion, mistrust and fear than Akashi had smelled in a long time, or maybe it was merely the underlying desire to connect with people that was so subtle that made Akashi take interest in the boy.

Aomine, that buffoon was clearly ill equipped to see what was right in front of him no wonder he’d gotten punched. Akashi turned away from the window as the four boys piled into the car. Nijimura was watching him.

“Seijuurou when are you thinking of holding the first werewolf support club? I want to make sure that it doesn’t conflict with any of our events.”

Akashi saw Nijimura opening his student council planner.

“I’ve decided to hold them every 14 days. Seven days before the full moon, and seven after.”

“Ok, will you be having human pack members in attendance?”

“Maybe,” Akashi said.

***

The ride home was silent. Kise didn’t seem to know where he was.

Aomine didn’t want anyone to know about what had happened, Kagami and Kuroko, who agreed somewhat begrudgingly, promised not to tell anyone either.

But Kise wasn’t at school the next day.

“We need to tell someone,” Kagami said as the three of them huddled together outside of the cafeteria.

“We can’t.”

“Why not?” Kuroko said in exasperation.

“Because this isn’t just one incident.”

“What do you mean?” Kagami said.

“Aomine do you know something?” Kuroko asked.

Aomine’s hesitation was enough to show that he was guilty as charged.

“I’m telling Akashi.”

“No wait wait. Ok, let me talk to him.”

Kuroko looked unimpressed.

“If I don’t get anywhere then you can tell Akashi. Just, let me try first.”

Kuroko finally sighed and nodded his consent to this plan.

***

Kise’s mom had realized something was wrong as soon as he stepped foot in the house. She’d taken him straight over to his therapist. After much poking and prodding Kise finally told the therapist about what had happened. About the locker room with Aomine, about him losing his shit and punching Aomine, and about the panic attack and flashbacks.

He’d only been seeing this therapist for a month, since they’d recently moved, but he’d given permission for his old therapist and new one to discuss what had happened before his family had moved. It became clear that he wasn’t progressing as much as his mom had believed. And when the therapist and Kise talked to her about the nightmares she wanted to take him out of school, but he flat-out refused.

“But honey you just said that there were werewolves who you’re not getting along with. It’s ok to be scared,” she’d said pleadingly.

Kise couldn’t imagine what it must’ve been like for his mom when the school called her last year. And he knew that she was worried, but he couldn’t stop going to school. He wasn’t weak, he didn’t want to hide even though that was what his instincts kept telling him to do. She’d finally agreed that he could go to school, but he had to tell his therapist everything and that if he wanted to take a day off he could, that they’d meet with the principal if things got bad. And that he should rest for at least one day at home.

He was exhausted by the time they made it home and he passed out fully clothed on his bed.

His dad stayed home from work the next day and they were watching reruns of Sherlock when the doorbell rang.

His parents peered over his head to exchange worried looks.

Kise wondered who it could be. Maybe the post office guy or someone from his dad’s work? His dad went to get the door.

“Hi I’m uh- Aomine Daiki, I was wondering if Kise I mean Ryouta was home….”

Aomine. What was Aomine doing here?

Kise looked over the back of the couch, the door blocked Aomine from view, but he knew that he must be nervous. He knew that his dad was getting ready to tell Aomine off, but nothing about anything had been Aomine’s fault. Kise knew that now – now that he’d talked to his therapist and thought about it rationally. He didn’t hate werewolves. He just….

“It’s ok,” Kise said as he came around his dad so that he was visible. Aomine looked tense, Kise’s dad looked between the two of them as if trying to figure out whether or not Aomine was hurting his son. Kise was grateful, extremely grateful for how much his dad cared.

“It’s really ok dad,” Kise said quietly. After all he’d been the one who had punched Aomine, not that he was telling his parents anything about punching.

His dad stared at him long and hard before opening the door to let Aomine in.

“Thank you sir,” Aomine said looking scared, which somehow seemed extremely out of place on his usually carefree features.

“Let’s go out back,” Kise said as he led Aomine to the back of the house.

They sat on a bench, Kise on one side and Aomine crammed in the other corner.

“Are you ok?” Aomine asked.

“Not really,” Kise said.

Aomine inhaled sharply.

“But it’s not because of you.”

Aomine was staring down at his hands.

“The scar was an accident….” Kise took a deep breath unsure why he was even telling him this, but he didn’t want Aomine to think that that was why he was scared of werewolves.

He could tell that Aomine was watching him now, but Kise stared straight ahead.

“At my old school there were some guys who… well they said that I must be gay. I look like a girl so… I just I don’t like it when people assume that I am. And yesterday I just. I just kind of lost it when you were going on about the LGBT club. But I don’t- I don’t actually hate gay people,” he finished angrily.

They sat in silence.

“I’m sorry for punching you,” Kise finally said, shivering as he remembered how Aomine had barely felt it.

“It’s ok,” Aomine said.

Kise breathed deeply before looking at him.

They stared at each other, it was kind of uncomfortable. Finally Aomine said the least expected thing.

“You’re uh really good at the piano.”

“How do you….”

“The day of the storm? I heard you playing. I didn’t mean to but I was passing by to grab something and I heard it coming out of the music room.”

Kise blinked at him.

“That’s what I was talking about when I said that you could skip cross country. If you can play like that then you might want to join the music club.”

Kise wasn’t sure why, but something just broke in him. He felt his eyes welling with tears. He felt so guilty. What had happened to him? How had he gone from being a good fucking person to the sort of person who assumes that everyone thinks that he’s gay? The kind of person who punches someone for telling them that they could join music club if they wanted to? Someone who’s afraid of werewolves when his best friend Kasamatsu was a werewolf too.

He felt Aomine’s hand on his shoulder and Kise flinched pulling away. Aomine let him, quickly retracting his hand and looking at Kise not as if hurt, but more surprised.

“I should go,” Aomine said as he stood up.

Kise didn’t know what to say so he just got up too and led the way back to the house.

***

Kise went to school the next day. He wasn’t sure how to face everyone after what had happened. Last night after Aomine and Kise had talked outside Aomine went home telling Kise that he’d see him tomorrow. And that was that. So Kise supposed that he’d go back to school.

“Kise.”

Kise’s heart sped up as he turned to see Kagami coming up to him.

“I’m sorry Kagami,” he said as he backed into his locker.

Kagami shook his head frantically.

“Aomine said that he talked to you, that there had been some confusion, and that it wasn’t your fault.”

“I’m still sorry,” Kise said.

“You didn’t hurt him so it’s fine right?”

Kise raised his hand immediately wanting to hold his ribs, the habit so much a reflexive response at this point. It’s true he hadn’t hurt him and in retrospect, it isn’t like he wanted to have hurt him. But the fear that gripped him for so long was still there. He went running with his dad now and he worked out, because he never wanted to be unable to defend himself ever again. But here was evidence, none of that made a difference. He couldn’t even take on a defenseless werewolf who was just standing there, let alone one who was trying.

He took his bag and left Kagami standing there in confusion.

“What the hell?” came Aomine’s voice behind Kagami.

Kagami turned around.

“What are you mad about?”

“He’s clearly upset,” Aomine said gesturing after Kise.

“Yeah but I didn’t do anything so there’s nothing that I can-”

“Didn’t do anything? You were just talking with him!” Aomine said angrily.

“Gentlemen let’s table this conversation,” came a smooth voice. They turned to see Akashi looking up at them before giving a sidelong glance.

Aomine looked over to where Murasakibara was emitting a death aura and staring after Kise.

“Ok,” said Kagami.

“I would like to see you all after school,” Akashi said. “Please tell Tatsuya to keep Atsushi away from Kise until then.”

Kagami nodded and off they went.

***

Kise couldn’t focus. He couldn’t defend himself. He couldn’t protect himself. What if Aomine had punched him back? He would’ve gone down. What was the point of all this training? He couldn’t outrun them, and he couldn’t do anything to them. When the bell rang after first period he went behind the school to call Kasamatsu before remembering that he too was in class. Fuck. Kise hurried to Spanish where he proceeded to ignore Kuroko and text Kasamatsu furiously.

 

To: Kasamatsu

Yukio I need to talk to you

 

To: Kasamatsu

I punched a werewolf at my school

 

From: Kasamatsu

WHAT Ryouta are you ok? I can leave now and get there tonight

 

To: Kasamatsu

No it’s ok

 

From: Kasamatsu

It’s NOT ok

 

Shit, he shouldn’t have said anything.

 

To: Kasamatsu

Really don’t

 

From: Kasamatsu

Nice try I’m coming

 

Kise stared at his phone, he felt like crying again. He was so thankful to Kasamatsu.

 

To: Kasamatsu

Ok

_***_

Kise didn’t see Aomine all morning, but at lunch time Aomine found him in the food area.

“You eating with us?”

Kise wanted to say no. That he’d eat outside as usual, but after having punched Aomine he felt like he couldn’t refuse.

“Ok,” Kise said.

Aomine looked down at Kise’s sandwich.

“Do you actually want to eat that?”

“What?”

“Just like you should really try the cheese fries. They only have them on Fridays and I accidently got two sets and an extra burger.”

Kise stared at Aomine incredulously before surprising himself and Aomine by letting out a short laugh.

“Has that lie ever actually worked?”

“Never tried it before. So soggy ass sandwich or succulent burger and mouth-watering fries?”

“Ok,” he said as he put the sandwich back and grabbed the burger and fries from Aomine.

They paid and went over to the table.

Aomine let him sit down next to Kagami and then he sat on his other side.

“Kise,” Himuro said brightly.

“Hey.”

“You got a burger?”

“Aomine said it was worth it.”

“It’s orgasmic,” Kagami said as he stuffed his burger into his mouth.

“How would you know?” Aomine asked.

Kise didn’t really get it but Himuro started cracking up, it must be some weird joke that they had. Kagami just rolled his eyes and gave Aomine the finger.

“You punched Aomine,” Murasakibara said suddenly. Everyone froze.

“Atsushi…” Himuro said turning to him and putting a hand on his forearm.

“It’s bad to punch people,” Murasakibara drawled.

“Nah it was fine,” Aomine said.

Murasakibara stared at him as if considering.

“Just don’t hurt Aomine,” Murasakibara said. “Or I’ll crush you.”

“Ok ok it’s fine we’re all fine,” Kagami said hurriedly.

Kise could feel himself shaking slightly.

“Hey it wasn’t Kise’s fault so don’t say that,” Aomine said.

“If Aomine says that it’s ok,” Murasakibara shrugged.

“So how was club on Wednesday?” Aomine asked casually.

“Good,” said Himuro. “No one new though.”

“They would come if they knew that you were a club leader,” Murasakibara said.

Himuro snickered. “Thanks babe.”

Kise blinked. They were a thing?! He had been right. But Himuro seemed happy. Was he a werewolf too? What how… but- Kise willed his heart to stop beating so loudly.

“Maybe they were visiting other clubs that day,” Kuroko said calmly.

Kise told his innards to calm down. He bit into his burger fiercely and choked.

Aomine passed him water.

“Thanks Aominecchi.”

Aomine stared at him.

“What?”

“It just kind of came… out…” Kise said blushing and not knowing why he’d called him that when he didn’t even really want to be friends with him.

“That’s what he said. BOOM drop the mic!” Kagami said as he stood up to bro five Himuro. Himuro just sat there smirking with his arms crossed.

“Making gay jokes baby brother?”

“You’re brothers?” Kise asked in shock.

“Packmates,” Kuroko said.

Kise nodded. That made more sense considering that they didn’t look alike at all. So how many people at this table were werewolves? Kise looked over at Kuroko and Kagami. Could they be human pack members? What about Himuro? Or had he actually only been talking to only werewolves this whole time… no Kuroko almost passed out on the first day of cross country, but Himuro? Kagami? Did this mean that they all knew that he’d yelled at Aomine about how he, Kise, looked like a girl and that that didn’t make him gay, as if being gay were a bag thing? He wasn’t sure. But Aomine had talked to them about what Kise had confided in him after right? They didn’t seem mad about Kise’s slight at gay people…. Shit he just didn't even know what to think anymore. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!! Let me know if you have any questions :)


	4. The Origin of the Scar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the punching and Akashi's wisdom on the whole matter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am really excited about this chapter because 1) we finally meet Kasamatsu, and 2) we get to see the beauty that is Himuro and Murasakibara fluffing together :)
> 
> Also I have decided on my pairings for both Akashi and Kasamatsu, but because of plot I'm leaving them as question marks, I hope that that's ok with y'all :X And there will be some rare pairs here and there, but the pairs tagged in the story are the endgame pairs :)

At Akashi’s request, Murasakibara, Aomine, and Kagami met him after school.

“How’s your term been?” Akashi said.

“Like you give a shit,” Aomine said. He wanted to go to cross country.

“Feeling angsty?” Akashi said in amusement.

Aomine stood up ready to roar.

“Enough,” Akashi said, his face void of emotion.

The room immediately got colder and the three other werewolves stopped, they knew the call of a true alpha when they heard it.

They’d all grown up in the same pack. There weren’t enough of them in the area to have more than one, so the Akashi pack had joined with the other families that already lived together. Everyone had known when Akashi was born that he was going to be the next alpha after the current alpha died. He always reeked of power and authority and none of them could defy him. Or rather they felt their wills bend to his. A pull that always brought them back to him. He was both ruler and safety.

At school he didn’t hang out with them, but they always obeyed the call when it came.

“Kise Ryouta…” Akashi said musingly. “He’s been quite the challenge.”

They stayed silent.

“You don’t like him Atsushi?”

“He ignores Tatsuya.”

Akashi nodded.

“And he punched Aomine.”

“He most certainly did, didn’t he?” Akashi said amused.

“It wasn’t his fault,” Aomine said unable to withhold his speech, even he was surprised by this. He wasn’t usually compelled to speak out against Akashi. He could tell that Akashi was also intrigued.

“And why is that?”

“I- I grabbed him,” Aomine stuttered, his mind immediately going to the scar that he’d seen, tracking down from his right shoulder down to his side, even though he knew now that that wasn’t the problem.

Akashi raised his eyebrows.

“He was pissed because he thought that I was telling him to join the LGBT super squad.”

“The what?” Kagami said, eyebrows furrowed.

“LGBT club,” Aomine answered dismissively.

“Oh.”

“So do you punch people who suggest that you join extracurriculars?” Akashi asked.

“No, but…”

Aomine couldn’t help it, he had an overwhelming need to be honest with his alpha. “He said that at his old school people used to say that he was gay because he looks like a girl, which he doesn’t but whatever.”

Akashi stood up again and looked out the window over the parking lot. They knew that he was putting things together.

“I’ve been watching him,” Akashi murmured. “His feelings on sexuality are irrelevant.”

Aomine opened his mouth to argue but Akashi cut across him.

“If you’re determined to befriend him then I suggest that you realize already.”

“Realize what?” Kagami asked.

“That he’s-” he stopped suddenly his eyes looking at the closed door. “Enter.”

Himuro and Kuroko came in. First period was over.

“You should’ve sent for us too,” Himuro said angrily.

Murasakibara stood up at attention and Himuro softened slightly. Akashi gestured for them to come in and close the door.

“You’re right,” Akashi said as they all sat back down, Murasakibara glued close to Himuro.

“What are you discussing?” Kuroko asked.

“One Kise Ryouta,” Akashi said as he sat back down.

“He was texting all through Spanish,” Kuroko said.

“Does he not usually?” Kagami asked.

Kuroko shook his head.

“He smelled really weird this morning,” Kagami said.

“What were you sniffing him for?” Aomine said pissed.

“Jeez layoff,” Kagami said. Aomine bristled.

“Daiki, Taiga’s right you need to calm down.”

Aomine stewed in his seat.

“Daiki informed us that at Kise’s old school people thought that he was gay, it was for this possible insinuation that he delivered the great punch to Daiki’s solar plexus. It was quite impressive actually. He has good form,” Akashi said more to himself than to them.

Himuro nodded and Kuroko stared blankly.

“My question is what sort of provocation would cause someone to resort to physical violence.”

“Uh….” Kagami said in confusion.

Akashi sat down again. “Taiga let’s say that everyday I see you at school and I tell you that you’re a shitty person. What do you do?”

“Tell you to shut up.”

“Right I insult you verbally, you insult me back. Now let’s say that I just walk up to you, use a slur and won’t leave you alone.”

“I’d push you away.”

Akashi nodded. “I believe Kise’s exact words were ‘don’t fucking touch me,’ and then he punched Aomine.”

“So….” Kagami said.

“He didn’t want Aomine in his physical space. I have a theory that he is afraid of werewolves. My guess is that it is related to his frustration with being called gay. And that his desire to defend himself comes from a place of being physically threatened.”

Aomine remembered the scar before also remembering that Kise had said that it was an accident. When he looked up Akashi was watching him as if confirming something that he already knew to be true.

“What?” said Himuro. “As in some kind of bullying?” They could all feel his fear at that prospect. Himuro’s emotions tended to be very cut and dry. Murasakibara was now rubbing circles on Himuro’s hand, black pain speeding out of Himuro and into Murasakibara’s veins.

“Thank you Atsushi, but I’m ok,” Himuro said.

Kagami couldn’t help but be impressed by how in tune they were with each other. Not everyone had a mate, well not a destined mate. And it was extremely rare to find your mate so young. Murasakibara and Himuro were an anomaly and even the grownups treated them like they were more adults than children, because of how mature their connection was. It could only happen if both parties were extremely self-aware. And considering that Himuro was a human it was even more impressive because he couldn’t feel the emptiness that was supposed to be filled. He’d trusted Murasakibara when Murasakibara had confided in him that he felt the pull to him as a mate. It was because of this acceptance that they were able to bond so quickly and realize the connection.

Kagami wasn’t jealous, but he was always kind of in awe, most werewolves were.

“I don’t think we can say exactly what happened in the past, but it seems that there is more that we’re not seeing,” Akashi said, finally bringing the moment to a close. “Not yet at least.”

They sat there in silence.

“Why do you think that he’s afraid of werewolves though?” Himuro said as he calmed down.

“He shies away from people who he finds physically intimidating, and when Aomine didn’t budge he was terrified, stating that Aomine was in fact a werewolf. I could be wrong, but…” he shrugged. Akashi was weirdly modest sometimes. They all knew that he wasn’t wrong, was never wrong.

“What should we do?” Kagami finally asked.

“Atsushi, don’t go after Kise,” Akashi said.

“But Tatsuya…” Murasakibara said. Not defiantly, but in a question.

“Tatsuya’s human, Kise seems to have a problem with werewolves, no one else.”

Kagami remembered all of the times that Kise seemed needlessly afraid. So this was why. Because of what had happened. Because he’d been bullied, possibly by werewolves, definitely by people stronger than him.

“I’d suggest not using any ‘superpowers’ around him. Strength, speed, clear understanding of his feelings. Tatsuya, Tetsuya, he will probably feel more comfortable around you. If you are determined to be friends with him then take it slow. Perhaps the two of you should take the lead on spending time with him.”

“What about us?” Aomine said earnestly.

Akashi shook his head.

“He won’t trust you. Especially you Daiki.”

Aomine growled and Akashi gave him a sharp look that quelled his bark.

“Give him time Daiki, otherwise you’ll do more harm than good. Look what just happened.”

“Ok,” Aomine said bitterly.

“All right I’d like to speak to Daiki alone. And please inform me of any further developments.”

The rest of them got up assuring Akashi that they would tell him anything important and then they left.

***

“Daiki you’ve been unusually aggressive recently.”

Aomine didn’t say anything. Akashi sighed.

“Incidentally let me give you an insight that I withheld from our previous conversation. When Kise was walking away from Kagami this morning, the emotion that I detected was fear of weakness.”

Aomine blinked. Akashi was the only one who could detect the origin of emotions, that was one of the things that set him aside as an alpha, or a future alpha. Aomine had only smelled fear, but of what he couldn’t tell.

“When he punched you were you hurt?”

Aomine shook his head. And Akashi smiled.

“Think about how that must’ve been for him. To be terrified, to feel like he was threatened by another werewolf after what had previously happened and then to have that person not even flinch.”

Aomine wasn’t sure what Akashi meant. Akashi’s smile faded. “You may go,” he said.

Aomine knew a dismissal from Akashi and he heeded it without resistance.

***

In the locker room before cross country the wolf pack was overly aware of Kise. He was glued to his phone.

“Kise, you should change,” Kuroko said.

“What?”

“For practice.”

Kise seemed dazed before he finally nodded clutching his phone and going to the bathroom to change.

“It’s ok,” Kagami said to Aomine. Aomine’s emotions were going haywire. Kagami hadn’t felt so much flipping off from Aomine since they’d gone through their initial puberty, when they’d finally started to learn how to keep from transforming. When you were a kid you only went furry on the full moon, but then around 10, 11, 12 you would sometimes transform, but they were too young to control it, to stop from wolfing out in the middle of the street or while hugging someone. That’s why they didn’t stay in schools with humans, they might accidentally grow a claw or snout just because they were too happy or angry. The transformation trigger was too unstable at that age. But after a few years they knew how to keep it under control for the most part, only transforming at the full moon when the pull was too great for any wolf to ignore. Still though, Akashi was the first one who could actually transform on command outside of the full moon. He couldn’t do a full wolf yet, but partial transformations. Murasakibara had come next, after he and Himuro bonded, but the rest of them didn’t dare try until they felt their second wave of puberty hit.

Practice went ok. Aomine was faster than usual and Kagami had to remind him to keep it in check, they tried not to outstrip everyone else by too much during practice. In case they freaked them out. And this was especially important what with the precariousness of the Kise situation.

Kagami was just glad that Kuroko, Himuro and even Kise seemed to be calmer than they had been earlier in the day. Kise seemed almost hopeful. Fuck Kagami needed to stop checking in on people’s emotions. It was rude. Kuroko was right. But he was just so damned worried. For everyone really. Maybe things would be ok. If they did what Akashi had said and took it slow.

***

Kise left like a bat out of hell. Just knowing that Kasamatsu was driving up made him feel better. He made the bus and when he got home it was to Kasamatsu and his mom sitting at the table and talking.

“Ryouta,” Kasamatsu said bolting up. Kise could see his mom smiling. She loved Kasamatsu. Kise hugged Kasamatsu tightly.

“Kasamatsu said that he came up when he heard that you were having a hard time, isn’t that so nice?”

“Yeah, thanks,” Kise said as he and Kasamatsu detached.

“When’d you get here?”

“About an hour ago.”

Kasamatsu started laughing. “Don’t look so sad, it gave me a chance to catch up with Mrs. Kise,” he said as he smiled over at Kise’s mother.

“Yes,” said Kise’s mom happily.

“I’ve already set up the extra mattress in your room Ryouta. Kasamatsu said that he can stay through Sunday morning.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Kasamatsu said.

“Thank you!” Kise cheered.

Kasamatsu laughed again. “So you want to show me around?”

“Sure, are you ok to drive into town?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. What’s curfew?” Kasamatsu asked Kise’s mom.

She waved him off.

“If he’s with you I’m not worried,” she said. “I’ll leave the porch light on.”

“Are you sure?” said Kise.

“Just go have fun,” she said.

Kise was not going to pass up the chance to have fun.

“Let me just put my stuff down,” he said as he hurried up the stairs. He grabbed his allowance, which he hadn’t been using and hurried back downstairs.

“Here,” his mom said as she gave him a 50.

“What?”

“For your dinner,” she said looking between the two.

“Thanks mom.”

“Thanks Mrs. Kise.”

***

Kise hadn’t been in town really, except for with his parents, and he hadn’t really wanted to go on his own. But exploring with Kasamatsu was great. They went to a sports store and looked at running shoes. Kasamatsu said that they’d finally started doing mountain runs on the full moon.

“Like up cliffs?” Kise asked.

“Yeah, it’s this whole thing, we’re getting more into pack bonding.”

Kise smiled. The Kaijo pack had always been kind of disorganized, much to Kasamatsu’s annoyance. Kasamatsu was always trying to get his family to act more like ‘legitimate’ werewolves, with meetings and pack runs and the like. He was the black sheep of the operation.

“It sounds like they’re finally onboard with you,” Kise said happily as he picked up a pair of red sneakers to examine them.

“Yeah, it’s- it’s been really good lately,” Kasamatsu said before looking at Kise sadly.

“What?”

“It seems like things haven’t been so good for you though.”

He shrugged. Being with Kasamatsu made him forget about a lot of that, but it was true.

“You want to tell me what happened?” Kasamatsu said.

Kise hesitated, but nodded, he knew that he’d feel better if he talked to someone other than his therapist and his parents about how he felt.

“Maybe we can grab dinner?”

“Sure,” Kasamatsu said. “Are you going to get those?”

Kise looked down at the red shoes.

“What about these,” Kasamatsu said as he pulled down a blue pair. “It’s more your color.”

Kise examined them, the dark blue, the white laces.

“Yeah, I like these better. You always know,” Kise said as he punched Kasamatsu’s shoulder lightly.

They bought their shoes and headed out.

“That looks like a Mexican place. And what’s that up there?” Kasamatsu said peering around.

“Fast food? Maji Burger,” Kise said remembering that the guys sometimes went there.

“Hmmm,” Kasamatsu said. “Let’s keep looking.”

***

Kagami felt Aomine tense next to him. He looked over to where Aomine was looking out of Maji’s window.

“Dude you ok?” Kagami asked.

“Yeah,” Aomine said before going back to his mountain of burgers and attacking fiercely. “I just thought I… I was wrong. Whatever.”

***

They ended up getting Chinese takeout and then going down to the pier by the manmade lake on the west side of town.

Kasamatsu didn’t say anything, it was like he was just waiting for Kise to talk.

“There are some werewolves at my school.”

Kasamatsu shifted next to him.

“Have they hurt you,” he finally said, his voice a low growl.

“No.”

Kasamatsu looked over. “Your heartbeat stuttered.”

Kise laughed.

“I thought you didn’t listen in on my built-in lie detector,” Kise said.

Kasamatsu frowned slightly.

“I’m not lying, it’s just that I’ve been really scared. But I think… I think that they’re probably good people,” he said digging his shoes into the grass.

“But you…” punched someone, Kise’s mind finished Kasamatsu’s statement.

“Yeah, I was, I was really stressed out. Two of them are really just, they get really close.”

“Threateningly?” Kasamatsu said half-rising out of his seat. As if he was about to go hunt them down.

“No, just unaware. That they’re all over the place.”

“But they should’ve been able to tell that you were uncomfortable,” Kasamatsu said fiercely.

“Maybe they didn’t realize that it was because of them.”

“Maybe…. How many are there?”

“Well one for sure, Aomine, he’s the one I punched. Then there’s Kagami who… he’s just always really too close like in sniff range, but I’m not sure about him. And then there’s Murasakibara, who is just too huge to be human.”

Kasamatsu gave a wry smile.

“But I was leaving school. And I was just annoyed with Aomine, and he came after me to offer me a ride in Kagami’s car. Anyways I said no, because I was just, I don’t know really done, and he used his super speed to grab my shoulder and I lost it. I punched him in the solar plexus.”

Kasamatsu raised his eyebrows.

“It was like he didn’t feel it.” Kise shivered at the recollection. “And after Kagami came up to grab me and pull me off of him, but it just, I was so upset and he was holding me back and there was a werewolf who hadn’t even flinched, and I felt so helpless and confused and just, Yukio all those things from last year, just came back. I still have nightmares of them,” he confessed. “Even though I knew that I was in the parking lot I felt like I was back in that bathroom, with _him_ there behind me and then…” he was shaking.

“Hey it’s ok,” Kasamatsu said as he came closer wrapping an arm around Kise. Kise leaned in feeling much safer.

“After that I had a panic attack. They helped me, so it was ok, and they took me home, but just everything about them reminds me of the other guys.”

They stayed silent for a while. Finally Kise pulled himself back from Kasamatsu’s shoulder.

“I’m terrified at the prospect of not being able to protect myself. Even though, part of me knows that they’re more like you than those guys.”

Kasamatsu didn’t say anything.

“Not all of us are the same.”

“I know. You’re not even. I never thought that you were capable of doing what they did.”

Kise thought that Kasamatsu already knew that.

“Even after what happened?” Kasamatsu said.

The years seemed to reverberate around them.

_Kise was eleven and he’d run over to Kasamatsu’s house after school._

_“Yukio! Look what I found,” he said as he pounded on the door. No one answered. He ran around to the window and peered in. It was dark. Hmmm what to do? And then it hit him. A wonderful idea. He scampered to the back to where the big tree was that went up next to Kasamatsu’s window. He hoisted his backpack off and started climbing. Giddy with excitement and proud that he’d come up with this idea. He reached a branch slightly higher than Kasamatsu’s window. Kasamatsu was standing by his door with one hand on it, but not moving. Kise waved his arms and Kasamatsu whipped around. He could still remember how wide Kasamatsu’s eyes were. He’d opened the window hurriedly looking up at Kise._

_“What’re you doing here?” he’d said angrily. Kise pouted. Why was he so angry?_

_“I wanted to show you something,” Kise chirped as he inched closer on the branch._

_“No Ryouta don’t it’s not-”_

_Kise looked down at Kasamatsu’s terrified face. He was about a foot from the window. He stretched forward and heard a crack, Kasamatsu’s voice dying in his throat as he reached out to grab Kise. Kise was falling. He reached out. And Kasamatsu leaned so far forward that he was out of the window, his hand stretching further further further. The claws extended, the fur coming out. And Kasamatsu realizing a second too late as his arm wrapped around Kise and pulled him in, his claws digging across his back._

_All Kise remembered was pain, terrible pain and Kasamatsu’s scream._

And then he’d woken up a week later. Apparently Kasamatsu’s alpha had been nearby. Kise knew that pack members could heal each other, but alphas were the only ones that could heal anyone. And they could really heal, not just take pain away like other pack members. If the pack alpha hadn’t gotten there as fast as he did, Kise would’ve died. As it was Kise now sported a scar. The mark of his friend trying to save his life. Who knows what would’ve happened had he fallen.

Kise snapped out of his memory and looked back at the teenaged Kasamatsu who was sitting with him now his eyes glassy, but from the darkening sky or something else Kise couldn’t tell.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Kise said. “We’ve talked about this. You were protecting me. You always protect me.”

Kasamatsu’s eyes were dark.

“Hey, you can tell how I feel right? I never blamed you. And you aren’t why I’m afraid of werewolves,” Kise added.

Kasamatsu finally nodded his understanding.

“Anyways, I’m just glad to see you.”

“Yeah me too.”

“Do you want to be friends with them?”

Kise hadn’t thought about it really. Did he? He wasn’t sure about Kagami and Aomine. But then he thought of Kuroko and Himuro, they were probably humans, but they were comfortable with Kagami and Aomine as if they were part of their pack. And then there was Murasakibara.

“One of them said that he’d crush me.”

“What?”

“After I punched Aomine, Murasakibara, he… he seemed really protective.”

“Well… if he feels like you threatened his family….”

“Himuro told him to calm down though.”

“Who’s Himuro?”

Kise explained about Himuro and Kuroko. How close they were to the others and how he thought that they were probably humans.

Kasamatsu’s brow was creased.

“What?”

“You said that Himuro and Murasakibara have a strange connection?”

“Yeah. Do you know what that could be?”

“I’m not sure… I mean, we don’t really date.”

“What?”

“Like we usually find one person to bond with for life.”

“Like a mate?”

“Well no like a partner. ‘Mate’ is for people who are more than just compatible with each other. Well the story is that they were ‘made’ for each other. That’s why they can heal each other. The rest of us can’t do that. We can take pain from pack members right? But it’s not the same, they can actually heal their mate. Like how my alpha healed you before.”

“So only alpha’s can heal anyone, but mates can heal each other?”

“Right.”

“But don’t werewolves heal fast anyway?”

“Yeah but if the mate’s human… then it’s helpful. Some scientists have been trying to figure out why some wolves have it and others don’t. They say that the wolves who do can tell that they’re missing something. And when they meet that person, they feel the need to protect.”

“So a mate can be human then.”

“Sometimes…. You said that you thought that Murasakibara and Himuro were dating?”

“Well I don’t know… it just seems that way. Is it possible?”

“They’re so young that it seems impossible that they’d just bond as partners. But if they were mates then it would make sense. But still it’s atypical. But I feel like Himuro would have to be a werewolf too… it would be strange for a human at our age to agree to mate with a werewolf.”

“Is there a way that I could figure it out?”

“There’s no real sign of it.”

Kise nodded.

***

They walked around for a while, and finally got home around midnight.

They slept in, not waking up until the afternoon.

Kise didn’t usually sleep in, because he had therapy in the morning, but his mom must’ve cancelled in favor of making them waffles instead. Afterwards they went back into town to kick around a soccer ball in one of the parks. Kise told Kasamatsu about how his mom now knew that he still had nightmares and how his new therapist was on a rampage to ‘get Kise’s confidence back.’

Kise kept in touch with Kasamatsu, but it was different when they got to spend time together. Yet, before Kise knew it, it was Sunday.

He walked Kasamatsu out to his car.

“Thanks for coming.”

“Anytime.”

Kise smiled.

“I mean it Ryouta, whenever. Ok?”

His eyes were so intense that Kise paused, but then he went in for the hug, gripping him tightly.

“Bye Yukio.”

“Bye Ryouta.” Kasamatsu ruffled his hair, Kise huffed indignantly, but then Kasamatsu was getting into his car and speeding away.

***

Himuro and Murasakibara always drove to school together. Himuro had grown up with Murasakibara. And he’d always been by Himuro’s side, trying to protect him, help him, comfort him. Himuro might’ve been insulted if he didn’t feel how much Murasakibara loved him. No he didn’t feel it in a werewolf way, but it was that every time that Himuro was in distress Murasakibara would appear. They hadn’t understood it at first: Murasakibara’s ability to sense Himuro even though he was miles away. But their parents figured it out when they saw Murasakibara carrying Himuro home one day. Himuro had fainted from heatstroke. And Murasakibara had caught him before he’d fallen, the dizziness seeping into Murasakibara. One of the pack members had seen the black in his veins and Himuro was completely revived by the time they reached the main house.

And from there Murasakibara’s parents had explained it to Murasakibara. And then Murasakibara had told Himuro. It was easy, it made sense really. They were best friends, partners, always connected. And although Himuro couldn’t _feel_ Murasakibara’s emotions, he could tell if they were together, because he understood Murasakibara.

They got to school around 7:50 on Monday. They were walking down the hall past the lockers when Murasakibara stopped and turned to the wall of lockers. Himuro turned too. There was Kise smiling into his locker.

“Good morning,” Himuro said, remembering Akashi’s words of caution.

“Oh, good morning.”

Murasakibara came up and stared at Kise.

“G- good morning,” Kise stuttered.

Murasakibara didn’t move.

“Atsushi? What is it?” Himuro said, worried that Murasakibara hadn’t actually given up on crushing Kise.

“He smells like another werewolf,” Murasakibara said simply.

“Oh,” said Himuro in some confusion. All the werewolves in town were in the pack so they could all identify each other’s scents.

“Did someone visit?”

“Yeah, a friend from uh when I was a kid. He came up for the weekend.”

“Oh that’s so nice!”

“Yeah, it was really nice. How was your weekend?”

“Good, we didn't do much.”

“That’s not true,” Murasakibara said. “We tried some new sweets.”

“Oh,” Himuro said laughing, “yeah we did do that didn’t we?”

Kise was smiling at them. And Himuro felt like it was a win.

“We’ll see you later Kise.”

Kise nodded, he had barely turned around again before he saw something shoot next to him.

Aomine was staring at him breathing heavily.

“Aomine… hi.”

“Kise you-”

“Ok let’s go,” Kagami said as he grabbed Aomine around the middle and pulled him back a couple of feet.

Aomine looked like was about to protest. Kagami’s nostrils flared at Kise.

But then he was hauling Aomine away. “Remember what Akashi said? Don’t be an idiot.” Aomine had been protesting but after that he seemed to regain his composure, well or whatever his usual self was. He glanced back at Kise but kept following Kagami.

***

“Are you fucking crazy Aho?”

“You smelled it right? What if someone attacked him again?”

“Maybe if you got your head out of your ass you’d smell that he was happy. Jesus you’re so lucky that you have me. And seriously do you want him to hate you? Listen to Akashi.”

***

“What the heck?” Kise said to himself.

“Aomine’s just being Aomine.”

He jumped before seeing Kuroko.

“Kuroko hi.”

“Hello. Do you want to eat lunch today?”

Kise hesitated.

“We can get food and sit outside.”

“But-”

“It will be nice out and they can stay behind,” he added. Kise wasn’t sure what had prompted Kuroko to want to eat with just him, but he readily agreed. It sounded like it might actually be fun.

The morning went by rather quickly and he and Kuroko both got sandwiches. Kise waited behind Kuroko as he said that he was going outside with Kise, because they had ‘things to discuss.’ No one questioned it although Aomine looked unnecessarily annoyed that Kuroko was ditching. Didn’t they live together? Hadn’t they said that?

It was quite cool outside. And actually Kise knew that soon he’d have to migrate indoors, but until then he’d stay outside.

“Himuro said that you had a friend come this weekend?”

“Oh, yeah he’s a family friend.”

Kuroko nodded and Kise felt that it was an invitation to explain more.

“My old city has two packs in residence: Rakuzan and Kaijou. I was at high school with the Rakuzan pack, but I grew up near the Kaijou pack. My friend Kasamatsu, lived down the street from me.”

“They don't live outside of town?”

“No…” Kise said uncertainly. “Is that… does the pack here live outside of town?”

Kuroko blinked at him. Kise wondered if he had asked a dumb question.

“Kise the pack here is called Teikou, there’s only one pack, because there aren’t that many families. And we live on a ranch outside of town. We have a few houses and other buildings too.”

“Oh,” Kise said. He got the impression that Kuroko was trying to answer unsaid questions. Maybe even the humans had been able to tell that Kise wanted to know what was what.

“Himuro and I are human pack members,” Kuroko finished.

Kise nodded as he put it all together. That implied that Kagami, Murasakibara, and Aomine were werewolves. Ok, now he knew. He smiled at Kuroko sending thankful thoughts his way and hoping that he would feel them.

Kuroko even seemed to give him a small smile back and for the first time since moving Kise felt like maybe he’d found a friend who he could actually talk to.

“So the Kaijou pack. Your friend,” Kuroko said.

“Oh yeah they all lived near each other and we lived near them too. Yukio is my best friend. We still talk a lot and when he heard-”

Kise broke off, but Kuroko didn’t seem to find it strange.

“Um he just wanted to come up and see me, because I’ve been a little stressed.”

“Is he a werewolf?”

“Yes!” Kise said excitedly.

“I didn’t know that you had werewolf friends.”

“Well really just the one.”

“You must miss him.”

“I do,” Kise said. And he really did now that he’d just seen Kasamatsu. He was trying to navigate these new possible friendships, but it was confusing for him. He hadn’t hung out with anyone like that in a long time. Too long. He remembered what Kasamatsu had said about Murasakibara and Himuro.

“Hey can I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

Kise hesitated. Maybe he shouldn’t just say it, but Kuroko didn’t seem judgmental.

“Are Murasakibara and Himuro mates?”

Kuroko stared up at him.

“Yes.”

“And and… Himuro’s human right?”

Another nod. Kise fidgeted slightly.

“It’s very very rare, but they’re happy,” Kuroko said.

Ok that settled that, he’d gotten a lot of good information to help settle his panic. Right.

“Anyways, how was your weekend?” Kise asked.

“It was pleasant. We went on a pack run.”

“You did?” Kise said trying to imagine Kuroko keeping up with the rest of them.

“I ate food at the starting point.”

“Ah, so you were on the cheer squad.”

Kuroko nodded solemnly. “Murasakibara always tries to sneak off into the ‘cheer squad’ too,” Kuroko said smiling.

“Him! Sneak?”

“It’s impossible.”

Kise was laughing so hard imagining him sneaking.

***

“Murasakibara are you just going to stare out the window for the rest of lunch?” Kagami said through mouthfuls of taco.

“They’re having fun,” Murasakibara said as he stared down.

“You shouldn’t listen in,” Himuro said as he took Murasakibara’s hand and led him back to his seat.

“I wasn’t, they’re too far away, but I heard my name.”

Himuro smiled at him. “Come and eat.”

Murasakibara settled in his seat.

“I’m getting more,” Aomine said.

“Didn’t you already eat a whole burger?”

“I’m fucking ravenous.”

“It is so weird when he uses big words in such shitty sentences,” Kagami said.

Aomine was already at the door to the food area but he could still hear Kagami. He gave him the middle finger before going in.

“He is acting really weird,” Kagami said.

Himuro just smiled at him.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“No you have that look. Like you know something.”

“Just an idea.”

“What idea?”

Himuro chuckled.

“Akashi made Aomine talk to him after we left right?”

“So?”

“Aomine’s probably stress eating because he can’t figure out whatever cryptic advice Akashi gave him.”

“Maybe he’s just being a jerkoff because he’s Aomine.”

Aomine came back and went ham.

“Aomine-”

“Don’t talfk to me,” he said as he shoveled.

Kagami raised his hands and got up to put away his tray.

***

At cross country something weird happened. They were going around the track and all of a sudden Aomine shot off into the trees at top speed.

Everyone kind of slowed down and looked behind them while continuing to run. Some people finally stopped running altogether.

“What the hell?” said the coach.

“I’ll get him,” Kagami said as he tore after him.

***

“We can’t possibly afford a golden statue of Squawker Takao,” Nijimura said in annoyance.

“But we have the technology!”

Midorima hit him on the back of the head.

“Idiot.”

“Moving on- yes Akashi?”

Akashi was standing up and looking out the window.

“I’m sorry, it seems that one of my children has gone rogue.”

Nijimura waved him off.

“Takao you have to make another proposal. DON’T argue.”

***

Where the fuck had he gone? Kagami was following Aomine’s scent through the trees, but it was getting all weird and then he smelled something else. Akashi appeared and shot past him. Kagami hurried in his wake choosing to focus on Akashi’s easier-to-follow scent instead.

Finally he caught up to them. Aomine was writhing on the ground, fur shooting out and then pulling back in, his eyes changing colors at a dizzying rate.

“Daiki.”

Aomine turned towards the voice, but he didn’t seem to be aware of what was happening.

“Daiki I need you to maintain your human state.”

Aomine let out a growl.

Kagami watched on worriedly.

“Stop the shift, take control.”

“Akashi why is he…”

“This isn’t working, I need to take him back to the pack. Taiga, tell the others.” Before Kagami could protest Akashi had grabbed Aomine and bolted.

***

Kagami was running back through the trees. They’d just finished up practice and Kuroko, Himuro and Kise had stayed behind to see what happened.

“Kagami?” Kuroko said.

“What happened? We saw Akashi-” Himuro asked.

“I don’t know, he took Aomine back to the pack.”

“Will he be ok?” Kuroko asked.

Kagami just shook his head. “I have to go tell a teacher and then we need to get going.”

They all hurried inside. The other three didn’t even change just said goodbye and left, Murasakibara appearing in his football gear and heading out with them like he’d smelled the problem from the field.

Kise hoped that Aomine was ok. No matter what he felt towards him, fear or friendship, he did want him to be ok.

***

“Hold him steady.”

Kagami, was shamelessly listening through the door to where Akashi was wrestling with Aomine. When they’d gotten to the main house where the pack lived Akashi had already told the adults and they’d called for the current alpha, Kagami’s mother.

Finally she came and gave them all a warm confident smile before heading straight into the room.

“Aomine Daiki I need you to come back to your human form.”

Kagami shivered. It was always strange hearing her command. It made all the wolves in the vicinity want to do whatever she said. To protect. To keep each other safe, that’s what the call of an alpha was.

Kuroko and Himuro were both tense, but when the alpha spoke they’d never truly feel what the werewolves felt, they just knew through observation what it meant. Kagami couldn’t sit still. He wanted to be inside. Helping Aomine. Doing something. He smashed a chair and turned towards the small gasp in fury. He saw Kuroko and Himuro staring at him. And Himuro started crying. Murasakibara bolted into the room looking around for him. He stood routed to the spot and Kagami knew that he was taking everything in, realizing that there was no external enemy before he hauled Himuro into his lap hugging him tight.

Kagami sat down next to a vacant expressioned Kuroko. He didn’t know what to do or what to feel. Kuroko’s hand slipped into his and he forced himself to stop fidgeting. The four of them sat there outside, waiting for Akashi and the alpha to help Aomine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mini cliffhanger ~(๑ñ﹏ ⊙☆)ノ #sorrrynotsorry  
> I hope that you liked it! If there's anything that isn't clear lmk. This story has more plot than a lot of my other stories so I'm trying to set the foundation for certain things - so if there's any confusion lmk now before it gets too out of hand Σ(+Oдo;艸;)
> 
> Thanks again for reading loveys!!


	5. Health Class and Other Things that I'd Rather Avoid or But It's Basketball....

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> health class, basketball, Takao being Takao, etc.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I definitely got all fired up and started writing the end of the story.... so sorry for the longer wait for this chapter. Also as the chapter was originally, there was way too much happening so I had to cut it down, but there will be more soon ﾍ(ﾟ∇ﾟﾍ) As always feel free to voice questions, comments, concerns, etc. if something doesn't make sense O.O

Takao was at the police station with Midorima waiting for his dad to finish work.

“Are you going to do any of your homework, or will you be asking me for help tomorrow during lunch?”

“Shin there are things that are more important than homework.”

Midorima put his pencil down.

“Ok listen,” Takao said drawing close. “They’ve had seven incidents of people waking up and not knowing where they’d been for the last several hours down near Bakersfield.”

Midorima stared at him. Takao made an encouraging nod, but Midorima just rolled his eyes.

“Ok now you know so you can focus back on your homework.”

“No, there’s more, get this, they were all werewolves.”

Midorima narrowed his eyes. “How do you know all this?”

Takao shrugged. “I might’ve snuck into a detective’s office last night.”

“WHAT?” Midorima screeched, uncharacteristically loud. A cop gave them a scathing glance before continuing to the break room.

“Shhhhh keep your voice down, and also don’t ever join choir, unless we need to put them in coffins for some reason.”

“You can’t just sneak into people’s offices,” Midorima hissed.

“Of coarse I can, Shin that’s what police stations are for, sneaking.”

Midorima sat back, mouth hanging open. “I can’t talk to you right now.”

“Shin why….”

“Stop whining, do your homework. You’re on the student council, act like it.”

Takao tried to get Midorima to look at him, but he continued to ignore Takao, feigning deafness.

***

Aomine didn’t know where he was. The light seeping in seemed foreign to him, unreal. He sat up and looked around. He was in his bedroom, but couldn’t remember how he’d gotten there.

“Daiki.”

Aomine turned to see Akashi sitting in a chair, watching him.

“Akashi?”

Akashi stood up and came to sit on the side of his bed, taking Aomine’s hand and taking his pain.

He’d never done it before, and Aomine felt like Akashi could see everything. He shivered and Akashi let go.

“So you are the next alpha…” Aomine said staring at him.

“Would you let me lead you if I were?” Akashi asked.

Aomine wasn’t used to the hint of a question that he heard in Akashi’s voice. He didn’t know how to answer, but before he could even begin to decide Akashi stood up.

“I have always felt that I was meant to lead the pack. That it was my destiny.”

Aomine sat up.

“I’d follow you,” he said without even realizing that he meant it. But he did.

Akashi turned to him and they stared at each other. Akashi had always been separate from the others, but he and Aomine had the biggest distance of all, like they just missed each other. But now they seemed like just two boys, still young and still stepping up to who they were to become.

“It means a great deal to me that you feel that way,” Akashi said before turning around.

Aomine could feel the unsettled emotions, but he couldn’t even begin to understand Akashi’s many scents and for the first time he realized that the path of an alpha must be a lonely one. Akashi would always choose the pack. No matter the cost.

“Daiki… you have been strange recently.”

Aomine got up out of his bed, stretching and feeling like lead. How long had he been asleep for?

“You’ve been irascible and unable to control yourself.”

Aomine felt himself getting pissy and then realized somewhat ashamedly that Akashi was right.

“Do you know why?” Akashi said.

Aomine shook his head.

Akashi wasn’t looking at Aomine, “it’s important to be able to protect the people that we care about.”

Aomine waited.

“Sometimes the ones that we care about the most are the ones that we lose control around the fastest.”

“Are we still talking about me?” Aomine blurted out.

Akashi chuckled, “we definitely are,” and now Akashi was staring at him, and Aomine felt like his gaze was searing him. “You have to control yourself, you must.”

Aomine hesitated before nodding.

“It seems that you’ve reached adulthood,” Akashi said.

“What?”

“You’re no longer a kid, your body’s ready to transform.”

Aomine bolted over to Akashi. He held his hand out, trembling as his claws appeared.

“Holy shit.”

“Dai-”

He was gone. Akashi rolled his eyes. He was probably halfway to Canada by now. Speeding, transforming at will, leaping, reigning it back in. Akashi just hoped that he didn’t forget everything that Akashi had just said.

***

“Why the hell can he already do it?” Kagami said furiously. Akashi merely looked amused.

“Jealous?”

“I’m not- I- me –jea!”

Kagami was sputtering incoherently.

“You weren’t upset when Murasakibara learned to initiate the change himself quickly.”

“Yeah but he has a mate! It makes you get shit done faster,” Kagami said in shock and annoyance. Damn Aomine. He’d beat Kagami to it.

“If you’d take some advice,” Akashi said.

Kagami stilled, listening intently.

“Even if you don’t have a mate, the need to protect can make you able to control the shift.”

Kagami stared down at his own hands, resolutely human.

Akashi went outside to be faced with the current alpha.

“Seijuurou, walk with me.”

He fell in step with her.

***

Aomine had been out for a whole week and all Kise knew was that ‘he’s out of town,’ as Kagami had said while scowling. Kuroko had assured him that Aomine was just fine, but he still felt uneasy about his prolonged absence.

So when Aomine finally came back on Monday Kise felt immensely relieved. He hadn’t meant to be watching the door like an investigator, but he couldn’t help himself. There Aomine, Kagami, and Kuroko were, Kuroko breaking off to come over to the sophomore lockers.

“Kise,” Kuroko said.

“Is everything’s ok?” Kise asked as he continued to watch Aomine and Kagami.

“Aomine is just fine, nothing’s wrong now.”

Kise let out a deep sigh.

“That’s good, that’s really-” he stopped talking when Aomine looked over at him before smirking and looking back at Kagami who was staring at Kuroko and Kise too.

“I’m glad too,” Kuroko said easily and Kise snapped out of it to change his books out.

The weather was starting to get colder. Big puffy coats were appearing more and more frequently in the halls, as the student body started to resemble Squawkers. Cross country ended and Kise had started trying to decide what to do about winter sports. He still ate outside, Kuroko ate with him on Mondays and Thursdays, and Himuro had come a few times too. But as it was he needed to start eating inside. He’d asked Kuroko if he could, and Kuroko said that he was always welcome to eat with them. He wasn’t sure why, but recently he felt like it might be ok for him to sit by them.

Another new development was in health class. They had been altogether up until this point but now they were starting their werewolf pack unit, which meant that they were being split into girls and boys, because part of what they would cover in class was sex.

This was the only class in the school where they split them by grade and then into boys and girls, and where any werewolf students were in a separate class. Kise walked into the health classroom with a sense of dread.

“Kise!”

“Takao,” Kise said recognizing the boy from the student council.

“Hello,” came another voice from Takao’s other side.

“Kuroko, hi.”

Kise instinctively looked at the seat next to Kuroko, where a brown-haired boy sat smiling at him.

“I’m Furihata Kouki,” he said.

“Kise Ryouta.” He took the seat next to Furihata and got out his health textbook.

“Good afternoon.”

A few students said hello back their teacher.

“I’m Mr. Grotto, yes Grotto you heard that correctly, and this year we will be having health class together every Friday afternoon.”

Right ok health class.

“We have a lot of material to cover in this unit.”

Kise listened while absentmindedly doodling Squawkers in his notebook. Almost all schools covered basic sex ed, protection, the miracle of life, etc. in the first year of high school, at least in the human classes – they had to split up part of the first year too. Kise knew that he was supposed to have taken units on drugs and mental health too, but he’d already been out of school by the time that they started. So here he was learning about sex again. They were going to talk about, and Kise cringed at this, sexuality, both human and werewolf, safe sex, and healthy relationships. Kise just wanted to learn about like mental health, or hell even nutrition – which would be boring but much less awkward.

One thing that Kise did find interesting was that the health classrooms were soundproofed. Mr. Grotto said that this was so that they didn’t have to worry about werewolves hearing their questions and so they shouldn’t be afraid to ask dumb things – well he didn’t say it quite like that. Kise wasn’t sure if that was fair, but then again it wasn’t exactly fair that werewolves could hear through walls in the first place.

“Alright, because we’ll be spending a lot of time together let’s do an icebreaker activity, it’s important that we’re all comfortable with each other if we’re going to discuss these topics. Break into group of three or four and one person come up to get a question sheet.”

Kise looked to where the other three boys were sitting. They moved their chairs so that they were clumped together while Takao went up to get a sheet.

“1: Introduce yourselves if you don’t all already know each other.” They looked around and then Takao continued, “2: when did you first become aware of the differences between werewolves and humans, what made you realize?”

“Kuroko do tell,” Takao said, his eyes glinting. Kuroko turned to him expressionless.

“My first memory would be when Kagami fell out of the tree behind our house, we were eleven and he’d climbed up to the equivalent of the fifth story to try and sneak into Aomine’s window. Then he fell.”

He was sneaking into Aomine’s room via tree? And he fell?!?! It sounded just like Kise’s own childhood antics.

“But he just stood up and looked like he was in pain for less than a few minutes. He’d completely healed. His mom yelled at him so much, and then turned to make sure that I understood that I would be seriously injured if I tried that and not to do anything stupid like Kagami.”

Everyone else nodded along. But Kise had just realized something.

“Is it more typical for werewolves to all live outside of town together?”

“Did you not take werewolf history?” Takao asked as if surprised by the question.

Well Kise had taken history last year, but because of everything that happened he’d missed the last few months of school, which was when they had the werewolf history unit.

“Not really…” he said vaguely.

“Well some families have human children,” Kuroko said. “So some members are werewolves and some aren’t, those families usually join packs though for protection and due to the fact that they have to teach in-house during puberty for the werewolves. That’s why werewolves are home schooled until they’re in high school. So it’s much easier to help a bunch of wildly out-of-control youngsters when we all live together.”

“Yeah it’s more typical than living separately. Or in town,” Takao said.

Kuroko was nodding along. Kise figured that that made sense. He didn’t know where Rakuzan lived, but Kaijou had lived in town, maybe because they were in a city, and it would’ve been hard to find a place that was big enough for all of them. That and the fact that the Kaijou pack was the least packy-pack so maybe they weren’t a good measuring stick for werewolf norms. But then Kise thought about something else.

“Wait but if they all live together then what about the humans that live with them?” Kise said startled. What about Kuroko?

“We’re family, it’s in their instincts to protect us, it’s more worrisome for other humans. Besides we are taught how to engage with each other during puberty, so as to avoid being near a werewolf when they shift without meaning to.”

“Oh ok yeah got it,” Kise said and they moved on to some of the other questions. When they finished they turned the sheet over to read through the list of questions that would be addressed in the class. Most were pretty normal but some made Kise feel slightly terrified, such as, 6: is werewolf sex the same as human sex? 10: can humans become pregnant from werewolves, can werewolves become pregnant from humans.

Kise didn’t know a lot of the answers and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to know. Finally Mr. Grotto called for their attention.

“All right, all of these questions will be discussed and answered in this class along with several other important points. It is my hope that by the end of this unit you’ll have a thorough understanding of the biology and sexuality, as well as compatibility, of werewolves and humans so that you can have safe sex if and when the time comes.”

_“He could totally just take me now.”_

_“What? Hayama’s way sexier.”_

_“No way Mibuchi seems like he’d be really smooth, really good at it.”_

_“I’m team Nebuya, he’s the least childish.”_

_No you’re wrong, Kise thought as he watched the girls walking over to the court._

_The three werewolves were the stars of the basketball team, even without using their super strength and speed they were amazing, that’s what everyone said. But Kise never wanted to watch them play. They repulsed him._

“Kise, Kise.”

“Huh?”

“It’s time to pack up,” Kuroko said.

Kise nodded, pulling his head out of his thoughts. Stupid werewolf chasers. Willingly jumping after a bunch of boys who could literally LITERALLY do whatever they wanted to them. There was nothing more terrifying than that.

***

“Are you doing basketball?”

Kise had been heading to the exit to catch the bus when Aomine came up to him.

“What?”

“I didn’t see your name on the signup, but practices start on Monday.”

“Oh… I think that I might do soccer.”

“What! Did you play at your old school?”

Kise shook his head. The wolf pack would’ve killed him if he’d joined soccer.

“You should do basketball, it’ll be a lot of fun and we can go one-on-one.”

“That’s not really… I can’t play.”

“Come on.”

Why was he pushing this, and why did he look so excited at the prospect of playing against Kise.

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“I’d never win right? You’re always going to be faster than me, stronger, better.”

Aomine stared at him incredulously. Was it Kise’s imagination or did he seem to not understand.

“But it’s basketball….”

What the hell did that mean. Kise felt like he’d just kicked a puppy.

“Ok.” What. Shit WHAT. He’d just said ok. And Aomine was grinning at him and corralling him towards the signups.

Kise signed his name like a death sentence. Aomine bounding next to him before staring.

“What?” Kise said as he backed up.

“You don’t smell right,” Aomine said.

“Aomine that’s rude.”

They both jumped to see Kagami and Kuroko coming up to them.

“But-”

Kuroko smacked Aomine. Aomine backed up a little. Kise stared. Aomine had listened to a human. Well but they were packmates so it was different. It’s not like Aomine would’ve let Kise just smack him. But maybe he would’ve. Kise didn’t know. Fuck he just didn’t know anymore. These wolves were much more confusing than he was used to.

“Kise’s doing basketball with us!”

“Are you any good?” Kagami asked.

Kuroko opened his mouth as if to reprimand him.

“I haven’t played since December.”

_“You’re so good, and you always smell good after practice.”_

Kise pulled himself out of his thoughts realizing that he was an idiot for agreeing to this.

“I should go, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Hey Kise,” Aomine said. Kise turned back. “It’ll be fun ok?”

Kise nodded, trying to feel reassured.

***

“Kise come here, come here.” Kise turned to see Takao striding up to him.

“What’s up?”

“Nijimura says that I’m not taking student council seriously so I’m starting a petition.”

“For what?”

“A golden Squawker.”

Kise stared at him.

“Isn’t the purple one enough?”

“No we need a whole flock of rainbow Squawkers. Actually a murder. Like a murder of crows but a murder of Squawkers.”

Kise felt like he had entered a parallel universe.

“It’s part of my gay agenda,” Takao stage whispered.

Kise couldn’t help but laugh.

“I’m combining my student council duties and my LGBT advocacy duties. And I’m doing it seriously. So can I have your support?”

Kise shook his head as he continued to laugh.

“Ok, ok, give it here.”

He signed his name. **Make our school great, support the rainbow Squawkers.**

“Thanks Kise! Hey Haizaki! Don’t you dare run!”

Kise watched Takao chase after a boy who looked seriously pissed.

“Huh,” Kise shook his head again laughing.

***

The day had come, the day of basketball. Kise went to the locker room, changed in a stall and went out to the court.

“All right, I’m coach Masako Araki, we’re doing drills to determine first, second and third string. Wolf pack, I’ll know if you try anything, so watch it,” she said as she looked over to where Kise was standing with the others. This woman was scary.

“Yeah like we’d try anything with her, she’d skin us,” Kagami muttered. Kise gulped.

They ran, they did layups, agility exercises, and Kise couldn’t help but like it.

“All right here are your numbers.”

Kise waited, he’d done ok, but he was out of practice, well or he hadn’t… he hadn’t been performing at the top of his game since…. He shook his head and tried to focus, unsure if he had played how he used to – how he played before he’d met them. He looked over to be faced with Kagami frowning at him as if confused by something. Kagami had been amazing, so had Aomine, and actually even the three werewolves from his old school had never played like that. And Murasakibara… well he could understand why he was on the football team.

Araki rattled off third string and then second string. Kise clenched his fists. They were almost done and then she called out.

“And first string: Kuroko Tetsuya, Kagami Taiga, Himuro Tatsuya, Aomine Daiki, Murasakibara Atsushi, Haizaki Shougo… Kise Ryouta.”

Kise had done it. He’d made it. He felt something like pride coming out past the shock that he was feeling.

He hurried over to get his uniform. Number 7… lucky 7. It was the same number that he’d had at his old school, which made him simultaneously happy and uncomfortable. What if he could actually play here? Like _really_ play. Here maybe he could play how he wanted to, and not be afraid of how he smelled or how he looked or what the werewolves around him would think. He wasn’t sure what he was feeling. Relief? Happiness? Confusion…. His fists closed over his jersey. Playing today he’d remembered what it was like. How happy it could make him. He looked up realizing that he’d been in raptures with his jersey and that the coach had told them that they could head out. Kagami, Aomine, and Kuroko were waiting for him.

“You were awesome,” said Kagami. “Why were you thinking of joining soccer? You were totally with it during the drills.”

Kise shrugged feeling himself smile slightly. There was nothing leering in the way that Kagami was looking at him. Just genuinely impressed.

“I just wasn’t sure if I remembered how to play,” Kise said – which was true in a way.

“I knew you’d be good at basketball,” Aomine said. “Welcome to the team.”

“I too am feeling extremely happy that we can all play together,” Kuroko said. And even though he looked blank as ever Kise could feel that he was being genuine.

They hurried over to the locker room. And Kise waited till everyone left as usual before heading into the shower. When he got out Aomine was waiting for him.

“Are Kuroko and Kagami still here?”

“Yeah, they’re upstairs.”

Kise didn’t worry about covering the scar as he changed. Aomine had already seen it anyway.

“Can I ask you something?”

Kise put his shirt on. “Yeah.”

“Why don’t you change in front of everyone?”

Kise turned around, but Aomine wasn’t looking at him.

“Because I have a scar….” Wasn’t that much obvious?

“Yeah but why don’t you want people to see it?”

Kise blinked. “Well because… because people would think that I was attacked.”

“But you were weren’t you? At your old school?”

That was true but it was different.

“This scar isn’t from that though. I don’t want- well this was- when I was a kid I tried to climb into my friends window, he reached out to grab me, he didn’t mean to shift, but he did, he was scared for me. I don’t want anyone to think badly of him.”

“But they wouldn’t know that it was him.”

“Yeah but I would know,” Kise said exasperatedly, willing Aomine to understand. “I don’t want people to think that werewolves are monsters.”

Aomine blinked at him.

“Don’t you think that though?”

Kise stared at him. What had happened? He thought that everything was normal so why were they having this conversation all of a sudden?

“I don’t- I don’t think that.”

“You’re lying.”

“What the fuck, are you listening to my… it’s not- it’s not that simple for me.”

Aomine didn’t say anything. They were facing each other now.

“You don’t want people to think that werewolves are bad, but you’re afraid of them anyway.”

“Aomine, stop.”

“I just want to understand.”

“Why?” Kise said angrily.

“Because I don’t want you to be afraid of me.”

Kise deflated a little. He sat down on the bench.

“I don’t want to be afraid of you either. But I punched you and you didn’t budge. What kind of an idiot human wouldn’t be afraid of someone that much stronger than them?”

“Yeah, but I wouldn’t choose to hurt you. You smell afraid all the time.”

Kise could feel himself getting afraid even as Aomine said it.

“It drives me fucking crazy.”

_“Your smell is amazing. When you’re afraid I can’t control myself, I just want to fuck you Ryouta.”_

“Hey. Hey!”

Kise jumped and stared at Aomine who had clearly been trying to get his attention.

“I can’t protect you, but when you’re so afraid I want to.”

“What?” Kise said, his voice shaking, his breath coming in shallow gasps.

“When you’re afraid, it’s the most upsetting thing that I’ve ever smelled. I hate that smell.”

“You… you hate it?”

“Of course I hate it. Who would like that smell?” He said looking at Kise in slight alarm.

Kise stood up, still shaking.

 _“It’s such a good smell on you.”_ No. Aomine said that that wasn’t true. Kise stared at him. Aomine’s eyes were intense as he looked back at him.

“I know that you’re not in my pack, that you need to protect yourself, but I can’t help wanting to help. It doesn't make sense,” Aomine said. And Kise noticed the way Aomine seemed annoyed and maybe, just maybe this meant that he was just as confused as Kise was.

“It’s cause we’re friends,” Kise said.

“What?”

Kise felt himself calming down as he realized what this meant.

“You don’t have to be in the same pack to care right? You don’t like seeing your friends upset, wolfpack or no wolfpack.”

Aomine was staring at him so hard, like he wanted to understand, like they were equals.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“Aomine we need to fucking go righ-”

Kise and Aomine both jumped as Kagami came storming in, Kuroko right behind him.

“Oh,” he said freezing.

“You weren’t listening in,” Kuroko said. “That’s very good Kagami.”

Kagami looked back at Kuroko confused before looking to Aomine again. “Uh… so home?”

“Shit, I missed my bus again.”

“Come with us, we can drop you off,” Aomine said.

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” said Aomine.

Kagami looked between the two of them, opened his mouth to speak, felt someone tug on his arm, and then looked down to see Kuroko shaking his head slightly and smiling.

Woah ok, yeah they could just go.

The drive home was quiet. Kise was thinking, but not frantically. He felt like he and Aomine had finally gotten somewhere. Weirdly his first thought was that he wanted to call Kasamatsu, which is what he did as soon as he got home.


	6. Thanksgiving

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little more laid back than previous chapter.   
> I wanted a quick reprieve from all the confusion before the next chapter, which will definitely get us back on track :)

“So what do you think?” Kise said after recounting the story of Aomine to Kasamatsu over the phone.

“I mean it sounds like he’s a good guy.”

“That’s what I think too. I think that maybe they could actually be, I don't know like maybe I’ll actually have friends,” Kise felt so weird saying it. For most people friends was a given, it used to be for him too….

“Ryouta I’m really happy for you.”

“Thanks… I also joined the basketball team.”

“You did?”

“Yeah, and I made first string.”

“Wow it sounds like a lot’s happened in the last few months.”

That was definitely true.

“How are you?”

“Good. Things are good.”

***

Kuroko was up in his room reading Dracula on his bed when someone banged on the door in a poor imitation of knocking.

“Kuroko?”

“Come in.”

Kagami came in and grabbed Kuroko’s desk chair to sit in it. Kuroko looked over. Well at least Kagami knocked now.

“I heard that you’ve started learning about werewolves in health class.”

Kuroko put his book down.

“We have.”

“Learning how to lure werewolves into bonding with you?”

Kuroko sighed.

“I’m kidding kidding, I remember Momoi talking about how there was a group of girls last year who were trying to figure out how best to attract the werewolves.”

“You mean you.”

“More Aomine and Akashi I think.”

“They wanted you too,” Kuroko said as he stared at the ceiling.

Kagami felt uncomfortable all of a sudden.

“Kuroko.”

Kuroko kept looking up.

“Hey Kuroko.”

“I’m listening.”

Kagami wanted Kuroko to look at him though, but he didn’t move.

“They should know that it can be dangerous to have sex with a werewolf anyway,” Kagami finally said to Kuroko’s profile. “They shouldn’t try to lure them, it’s not safe for humans. That’s the whole point of the health class right?”

Kuroko didn’t say anything.

Finally Kagami got up feeling out of sorts, not quite sure why he had come in in the first place.

***

Kise woke up and felt normal. He sat up. He felt normal. No nightmares… he hurried out of bed. No feeling of foreboding….

When he got to school he went over to his locker waiting for Kuroko to come and wondering if this weirdly good feeling of normality would last the whole day. It was like a fog that he hadn’t even known was there had lifted.

“Kuroko!” he said excitedly as Kuroko came over.

“Kise good morning.”

“Good morning.”

“Did you finish your presentation for Spanish?”

“Si claro. Did you?”

“No, but I’m not presenting until Friday.”

“Oh ah lucky. Well no I don't mind going early actually,” Kise said thoughtfully.

They walked over to homeroom.

“Kuroko I’ve been wondering, why does Kagami sometimes go over to Aomine’s locker when he’s a sophomore and not a junior?”

Kuroko sighed, “they just like to pick on each other.”

Hmm that kind of made sense.

***

Kise’s presentation went smoothly and at lunch he even decided to branch out and try one of the other sandwich options. As he came over to the table he saw Himuro and Murasakibara pouring over a bunch of papers.

“What’re you looking at?”

“Colleges,” Himuro said.

Kise eyed the many pamphlets before asking the obvious question.

“Do you know where you want to go?”

Himuro turned to Murasakibara, Kise watched as Himuro’s fingers brushed down the giant’s bicep. He wasn’t sure why but it made him feel slightly uncomfortable. Murasakibara turned to Himuro easily enough though.

“We haven’t decided yet,” Murasakibara said, still looking at Himuro.

“Ar- Are you hoping to go to the same school?” Kise said glancing at the others for some cue as to what to do. Aomine just waved a hand as if to say that Kise shouldn’t worry about it. Well Aomine didn’t seem to worry about anything so of course that would be his reaction. Kise gave him a withering look, which Aomine completely missed, Kise snorted as he looked back at Himuro who was watching him now. Kise froze, but Himuro just continued as if nothing had transpired.

“We can’t really go to different schools.”

Why not? He felt like maybe he shouldn’t ask though.

“It’s hard for young mates,” Himuro said quietly.

“I wouldn’t want to go to a different school anyway,” Murasakibara said.

“Yeah I don’t really want to either,” Himuro said laughing. “But really we don’t want to be far away from the pack.”

“It feels wrong,” Murasakibara said.

“That makes sense,” said Kagami suddenly.

“Yeah well when your mommy’s the alpha,” Aomine said, food grossly sloshing around his mouth.

“Fix your mouth,” Himuro said.

Aomine gave him the finger. Murasakibara growled. Kise laughed. And then they all turned to him in surprise.

“Ah sorry,” he said, his cheeks heating up.

“It’s fine,” Kuroko said kindly. “I think that the alpha would let Kagami go where he wanted though.”

“Yeah my mom’s pretty cool, my dad would cry though.”

“Your mom’s the alpha?” Kise asked Kagami.

“The one and only, well… besides her successor.”

“That’s not you?” He said in confusion.

“No it’s whoever is best suited,” Himuro said. Kise looked at them all in turn. Best suited out of them….

“Akashi,” Murasakibara said.

“Who?”

“He’s the vice president of the student council,” Kuroko said. “He’s probably the next-”

“He is,” Aomine said abruptly.

“What?” Himuro said.

Kise watched as Aomine looked off into the middle of the cafeteria, they all followed his line of sight to where the student council was sitting. A boy with violently red hair was staring at them. And Kise had the strange feeling that he was looking right at him specifically. He shivered slightly and saw a fleeting smile on the boy’s lips as he gave a curt nod before he turned to talk to Nijimura.

“Is Nijimura a werewolf?” Kise asked as he remembered meeting him after running away from his initial lunch.

“No…” said Kagami.

“He’s not in the pack?”

Kuroko shook his head. Huh, he must have just deduced where Kise had gone.

Himuro and Murasakibara were looking back at their fliers and they all passed the rest of the lunch hour discussing the various schools.

When he got home it was sitting there. Black and beautiful and shiny and Kise dropped his bag in the entryway and sat down immediately. His fingers found the keys and his eyes closed. It was perfect. This day had been the best day he’d had in a long long time.

***

He wasn’t out of shape, but he was out of practice. Watching the others move with such ease made him want to do better. Kagami was like a powerhouse. He imagined one of those Donkey Kong games where you smashed things, that was his style, but like careful smashery. And Aomine was weirdly graceful – a word that he would not use to describe him off the court. Kise was also starting to notice that Kuroko was well… unnoticeable.

“Jeez what is going on,” Aomine growled next to Kise as they watched the court, during a water break.

“What do you mean?”

“Those two,” Aomine gestured to Kuroko and Kagami. “They’re supposed to be a team.”

Kagami turned to huff at Aomine and the ball smacked him hard in the face. Kise let out a little gasp of horror, and clapped his hands over his mouth, but Aomine seemed unconcerned. “They’re not playing like a team at all,” Aomine continued.

“Uh they’re not?”

“No they aren’t,” came a voice on Aomine’s other side. Kise saw the manager, Momoi Satsuki, staring out at the pair appraisingly.

Aomine shook his head. “They’re usually like, annoyingly good together. Fuckers.”

“Jealous?” Momoi said smirking.

“I’m not jealous.”

“What are you doing?” came a loud voice next to Kise. He jumped, saw the coach, and then hurried back onto the court with Aomine while she yelled at them. Kise understood what Aomine meant after that. He didn’t know how they usually played, but he did know that they weren’t in sync. It was actually kind of painful to watch. Kuroko didn’t seem to notice it and Kagami just seemed confused and strangely careful. But no one said anything more about it and the rest of practice went by pretty smoothly, that is until Kuroko passed to Kise for the first time. Kise literally fell on his butt and then had a bunch of sweaty probably-now-his-friends sitting next to him and checking to make sure that he was ok. He was ok… bruised, confused, but ok.

“How am I supposed to catch that?” he said as he stood up gingerly, rubbing his behind.

“Here let me show you,” Kagami said.

“Our time is up, do you want to stay after?” coach Araki said.

“Kise?” Kagami asked.

“Yeah, I want to learn.”

Aomine and Kuroko stood about fifteen feet apart and demonstrated while Kagami explained how Kise needed to position his hands. It took a good half hour before he could catch one without falling over. They kept at it for a little while longer and finally they called it quits. Kise called his mom as they headed out to the car to let her know that practice had run late.

***

“Sweetie, are you ready to go?”

Kise was throwing clothes into his bag haphazardly. How he had forgotten about Thanksgiving he wasn’t exactly sure, but somehow time seemed to be slipping away from him. Maybe this was how normal people felt. His mom had reminded him earlier in the week that they were leaving early Thursday morning and although he’d done most of his packing Wednesday night he hadn’t really thought it through so now he was scrambling.

“I’m almost done!” he called down as he ran to get his toothbrush from the bathroom.

They piled into the car and drove down south to Grandma Kise’s house. Kise had a lot of cousins on his dad’s side. His mom was an only child and both her parents had died in a freak car accident when she was in college, so they always spent holidays with his dad’s family. His mom was always a little sad around the holidays, but it was hard to be sad at Thanksgiving because well there were just so many people to talk to.

They got to Grandma Kise’s just after one in the afternoon.

“Happy Thanksgiving!” came a loud roar from the house. Kise’s grandma had four sons, all of whom came for Thanksgiving every year. The moms tended to chat together leaving the sons with their mother. Kise had long ago caught onto the fact that they all seemed to be mama’s boys and that his grandma was much more interested in her sons than their wives. But everyone got along well enough.

“Get in here we need your help,” his grandma said imperiously as she beckoned Kise’s dad over. Kise hugged her and then went over to the living room where his cousins watching the A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. Dozer, his grandma’s asinine Doberman, came up to pounce on him. Kise wondered if the werewolves had dogs too. Dogs would probably like them right?

“Ryotua!” said his cousin Asuka as she jumped up to give him a hug.

“Asuka,” he said hugging her tightly. She was his favorite cousin, obviously. She was more like an older sister really, a really cool older sister who modeled and went to art school. “When’d you get here?”

“I drove up on my own so I just got here. Also I brought you this.”

She pulled out a magazine that Kise recognized as being fairly popular among some of his female classmates. She opened it to show him a spread.

“Is that… holy crap Asuka you’re in a magazine!”

She was smiling and doing her happy dance on the couch.

“This is incredible.” He looked through the rest of the spread. There was another model with her. They were modeling different winter fashion wear and Kise felt a surge in pride well up in him. “You’re amazing,” he said as he skimmed the mini model bio about her.

“You know you could probably try it too if you wanted.”

Kise froze.

“M-me?”

“Yeah, you totally could. Actually I was showing my agent a photo of us cousins from the summer and she pointed you out. I think you really could try it and be in magazines too if you wanted.”

Kise stared at her before laughing. “No I- I’m not really, well who’d want a girly looking guy anyway.”

She rolled up the magazine and swatted him. “You’re not girly looking.”

“Yeah you’re not,” said Asuka’s brother Kyle from the other couch.

Asuka threw him a pointed look, but Kyle just feigned innocence as if he hadn’t been eavesdropping.

“Besides there are a lot of more effeminate guys and androgynous guys as well as classic looking guys who model. Just look.”

She pulled out several other magazines and showed them to Kise. He got what she meant, but he just couldn't, of course he couldn't.

“Kids! Dinner!” yelled the youngest uncle. They turned off the TV and made it over to the dining room. They went around and said what they were thankful for, then the younger generation went to the ‘kids table,’ which was poorly named considering that they were all in their teens already and none of them much felt like children.

“Where’s Michael?” Kise’s dad asked.

Kise turned to Asuka giving her a questioning look and she mouthed ‘boyfriend of the month.’ Kise rolled his eyes. Frickin grandma. She had a new boyfriend every time that they came to see her. This was the third Michael. Well the third Michael that he knew of.

“I sent him home. Who wants him here on Thanksgiving anyway?” his grandma said haughtily.

“Isn’t he your boyfriend though?” Ken said. Kise nudged Ken in the ribs. Ken was a year older than Kise and he had a smart mouth that got him into trouble.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about young man.”

Kise tried not to snicker.

By the time pie came around his grandma and all her sons were well on their way to being drunk. This happened every year too. The wives were in the kitchen raising their eyebrows in a ‘what did we expect’ kind of way while Kise’s grandma told them to hurry up. Kise wondered if this was how most families were at Thanksgiving. Finally all the grownups went to bed.

“Don’t stay up too late,” Kyle and Asuka’s mom said as she shut the living room door.

They slept in the living room every year, well or “slept.” What they really did was have a movie marathon. Kise had stayed awake straight through till the morning for two of the years. Last year he’d passed out at four only to be woken up a half hour later to go shopping. But this year he was determined to stay up.

***

Friday was spent at the stores, which Kise not so secretly enjoyed, and then sleeping. Asuka told Kise that he could come and visit her at college sometime after he got his license and Kise really wanted to visit. They went back on Saturday. He asked his mom on the drive home about the driving requirements in their new state and she said that he could sign up for a course if he wanted to, spoiler alert, he did want to. Kise wondered what Kuroko and the others had done for Thanksgiving. He could only imagine. It was probably really crazy in a packhouse, all those ravenous wolves stuck on a ranch together. Kise wondered if they ever lost it and started tearing into their pet chickens. He felt slightly disturbed by the fact that he found it comical as opposed to mortifying. There was something seriously wrong with his brain right now. He pulled out his phone to text Kuroko and ask how his break was going before realizing that he didn’t have his number.

***

“Kuroko, Kagami!” Kise said when he saw them coming towards him on Monday.

“Kise,” Kuroko greeted.

“Can I have your number?”

Kuroko blinked at him.

“I just realized that I don’t have anyone’s phone numbers and I was going to text you but I don’t have your number.”

Kuroko took Kise’s phone and added his contact info.

“I don’t really text a lot though,” Kuroko said.

“Kagami?” Kise said as he held out his phone to him.

“Yeah,” Kagami said as he took the phone and put his number in. “I’ll message you back so go ahead.”

Kise smiled at him. “Ok.”

He turned around to see Aomine looking towards them. Kise smiled at him before heading off to homeroom.

***

“So how was your Thanksgiving?” Kise asked.

“Normal,” Kagami shrugged.

Kise imagined his own family and nodded.

“We had the annual Thanksgiving Games Tournament,” Kagami said sticking his index finger in the air. “We cooked our ten turkeys. Completed the woods endurance test and then did our bonding circle.”

“We also ate quite a bit,” Himuro said.

Kise stared at them. It sounded like they were talking about a Spartan summer camp and not a national holiday.

“What do you do in your tournament?”

“Just normal stuff,” Aomine added unhelpfully. Kise turned to Himuro pleadingly.

“It’s a series of games. Strength and agility tests, in the style of the Highland Games.”

“You wear kilts?” Kise asked. Kagami spat out his burger.

“No, what? We just throw things.” He mimed throwing something.

“And there’s running,” Aomine said.

“Yeah the obstacle course this year,” Kagami said looking around Kise at Aomine.

“I swear Riko gets weirder every year,” Aomine said shaking his head.

“Yeah, so there was this big tarp,” Kagami started.

Kise listened as they explained how their human pack member Aida Riko always designed this wild werewolf obstacle course every year. Apparently she’d added mini catapults that threw knives and one of the uncles had actually been grazed. Kise then asked about the turkeys.

“Well we have a bunch out in the back and we kill them ourselves.”

And then apparently they cooked them in some kind of ginormous kitchen. Just how big was their pack? Didn’t they say earlier that it was pretty small? No but if the others ate the way that these three did then of course they could polish off ten birds no problem.

“Wait so what’s the woods endurance test?”

“Oh we just run,” Kagami said dismissively.

“They run until they can’t anymore,” Kuroko said.

“What’s the point of that?” Kise asked in horror.

“To see who’s the best,” Aomine answered. And he was looking at Kise like he was an idiot, which Kise thought was absurd.

“And the bonding circle?” It sounded like a séance to him.

“Ah we get our food and then sit in two circles, like an inner one and an outer one and talk to every member in the pack by rotating. It’s like speed dating except speed packing,” Kagami said.

“Huh,” well his Thanksgiving seemed pretty tame after all that.

“How was your Thanksgiving?” Himuro asked.

“Oh um, we didn’t really do much….” Kise said as he fidgeted slightly. He felt like his Thanksgiving would sound stupid in comparison to theirs.

“Did you eat lots?” Murasakibara asked.

“Yeah.”

They all seemed to be waiting for him to continue.

“Well we always go to my grandma’s house. My dad’s brothers come so I get to see my aunts and uncles and my cousins. We go shopping on Black Friday, the uncles and grandma get drunk, we cousins stay up to watch movies,” he shrugged.

“That’s it?” Aomine asked.

Kise saw Himuro glare at Aomine, who as always noticed nothing.

“Yeah that’s it.”

“That’s pretty typical though,” Kuroko said.

“What?” said Kagami in confusion. “But what about all the competitions?”

“Must be a werewolf thing,” Himuro said.

Kise wondered if Kasamatsu did that this year too, now that his pack was getting more packy.

“How do you know that Kuroko?” Kagami asked.

“I asked my friends,” he said. “It sounds kind of nice.”

Kise was grateful to Kuroko even though he didn’t really need to be. But it was nice to hear that it wasn’t weird, because for a minute he’d felt like he had stepped into a parallel universe.

***

“Oi! Bakagami are you jerking off! You better not be because I’m coming in!”

Kagami was lying on his bed and not jerking off.

“Aomine can I ask you something?”

Aomine deflated. Kagami had barely moved, not at all annoyed that Aomine had just invaded his privacy.

“Yeah fine,” he flopped down in Kagami’s desk chair all notions of pranking forgotten.

“Do you ever feel like it’s not fair to Himuro and Kuroko?”

“What do you mean?”

“Maybe they’d be happier if they lived in town. They don’t need to be out in the woods. They could have normal lives, without all this bullshit.”

“Did you hit your head? What normal lives? This is normal.”

“Having to go on pack runs but not be able to run with us, having to live in soundproof rooms so that when they have a nightmare no one hears them, not being able to know how we’re feeling, but us always knowing how they feel. It seems wrong….”

“Having your family have secret meetings when you’re not in the room.”

Kagami sat up startled, as Himuro came into the room.

“Don’t leave the door open if you want to have a private conversation.”

He closed the door firmly as he came in.

“Himuro I-”

He held up a hand.

“You make it sound like we’re stuck out here in prison.”

“Doesn’t it feel that way sometimes?”

Himuro sat down on the floor, stretching his legs out.

“Do you remember when we were kids and you two snuck into the Akashi’s to try and steal wolfmead?”

“How could we forget,” Aomine said dryly.

“I remember your mom shooting off to go see what had happened,” he said nodding at Kagami, “she was so angry, and I didn’t need werewolf senses to know that. Kuroko and I watched as everyone else bolted into the woods, knowing exactly where to go, and racing faster than I’d ever be able to. That was the moment when I felt that yes I wanted what you have. And not knowing if you were ok, worrying because I couldn’t go over and check… that was terrible. But that’s also how it is for all humans. And I realized that I wasn’t like you two are, like Atsushi is.”

“So I am right.”

Himuro shrugged. “Not really. I ran into Aida Riko at the door she was all pissed watching everyone go and when I asked her if this is how it always was she said ‘fuck that we’re going too, get in the car’ and we got there with Kuroko about ten minutes after everyone else. Look yeah it sucks that I can’t run as fast, or carry someone home in the blink of an eye, but that’s life right? And living here with all of you, it doesn’t make me feel like I’m less.”

After a brief silence Kagami finally said.

“But don’t you think that Kuroko would be more expressive if he didn’t have to hide-”

Yank, Himuro had pulled his hair.

“Ow jesus! How are you so good at inflicting pain?”

“I had to learn to be creative,” Himuro said as he let go. “More importantly Kuroko is not like that because he lives here. That’s who he is, so get it through your thick skull and don’t be a dick.”

“I wasn’t being a- Aomine tell him that I wasn’t being a dick.”

“You were totally being a dick. You’ve ruined my good mood with all your bullshit family talk. We’re just a normal pack don’t worry about it.”

Kagami rubbed his head. It always felt weird when his hair was pulled, stupid Himuro, he was way too smart, werewolves had a thing about their hair.

The bell dinged in Kagami’s room, he pressed the button to release the door flap, “come in.”

“Tatsuya….”

“Hey Atsushi.”

Murasakibara came in and hoisted Himuro up.

“Ok ok we can go.”

“Jeez do that somewhere else,” Kagami said.

“We’re going we’re going,” Himuro laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A note on "the fog." At the beginning of the chapter Kise describes his good mood as emerging from a fog that he hadn't known was there. In my sordid love affair with depression this has been the most poignant feeling that I've had. I'm curious for those of you who are willing to share if you've heard of other ways that people have described it or in your own experience. If you don't feel like sharing that's fine too :)  
> I hope that you all liked the chapter, and as always comments, edits, etc. are always welcome !
> 
> (Sidebar: the reason that this update came so quick is because I have laryngitis and my job said that I can't use sick leave but that I can use my vacation days so I figure that if I'm stuck at home feeling like shit I might as well do something useful WHILE I'M CRYING) ヾ(｡ꏿ﹏ꏿ)ﾉﾞ


	7. Friendship and the Human / Mate Paradox

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter finally talks about what exactly happened to Kise in the past, not when his ribs were broken, but what lead to that scene. So a trigger warning for sexual assault. If it makes you uncomfortable I suggest either skipping the chapter or if you really want to read it just skip the italics. 
> 
> Because I edited this in my haze of sickness, please tell me if there are any gaping holes or spliced paragraphs or something wild like that. 
> 
> Also this chapter gets heavy so prepare your wolfy selves.

_“You smell so sweet.”_

Kise shivered.

_“You do it on purpose don’t you?”_

He rolled over.

_“You do it for me… because you want me. Like a slut.”_

Kise woke up in a cold sweat scooting back against his headboard and convinced that he was there in the Kise’s bedroom. His heart was beating out of his chest as he whimpered and looked around. There was no one there. It was just a dream. He pushed back his hair and tried to breathe. Just another memory.

He checked the clock, it was just after five. He tried to sleep, but couldn’t, not after that. He got out of bed and stretched, before putting on his running clothes. He left a note on the dining room table for his dad and went outside. It was still dark and cold, well cold for someone that had moved from down south. He could see his breath misting in the early morning air as he went on his usual route. He finished before his alarm went off and was in the shower when his dad got up.

“Morning slugger. You go ahead without me?”

“Yeah, I couldn’t sleep.”

His dad gave him an appraising look, before nodding, ruffling his hair, and heading past him. His dad had never been a feelings type. But Kise felt loved and that was enough. His mom had enough feelings for both of them anyhow, Kise had probably inherited that.

He was in his room pulling out his clothes when he froze. He wasn’t sure why he wanted to, but he did, he looked up at himself in the mirror carefully. His eyes glowed back at him, his hair was getting long, too long. As he reached up to let it slide through his fingertips he wondered why he still kept it like this, after everything. He let his eyes look down his chest. Skinny, lean, not bulky, not like Murasakibara, not muscley like Kagami. Why didn’t he look stronger? No, why wasn’t he stronger. He felt miserable all of a sudden. He leaned his head against the cool glass shutting his eyes. He pulled on a big sweater and his skinny jeans. He used the dampener pedal on the piano and played a few pieces before it was time for breakfast.

***

“Kise, Kise!”

Kise looked up to where Kagami was staring at him, brow furrowed.

“Sorry what?”

“Are you coming to lunch?”

“Oh,” he looked around, he didn’t really remember what he had been looking for in his locker. “Yeah.”

“Are you ok?”

Kise nodded before stopping and shaking his head.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he said looking straight at Kise. It was slightly unnerving how serious he seemed.

“I-” he didn’t know.

“Let’s go off campus.”

“But we’re not allowed. And we don’t have time.”

“I could run us there,” Kagami said looking sheepish.

Run with a werewolf? Kise’s heart picked up.

“It’s up to you,” Kagami said as he held out his hands.

“Ok, yeah let’s,” he laughed a little feeling slightly reckless, “let’s do it.”

They walked outside and then Kise got on Kagami’s back and he booked it. In human form he was still fast and they were at Maji burger before Kise knew they had left.

“So what’s wrong?” Kagami said as they bit into their burgers. How could he say it without actually saying it?

“I don’t sleep well.”

Kagami was watching him, chewing in a large kind of way and thinking.

“Like because you’re thinking?”

Kise shook his head and looked down. “I have nightmares.” He ate his burger not wanting to see Kagami laughing. What kind of high schooler had nightmares?

“Kise,” he said softly.

Kise looked up.

“Is it because of what happened at your old school?”

Kise nodded before freezing. How did Kagami know? He stared at him.

“What?” Kagami said.

“Did- did Aomine tell you?”

Kagami stopped chewing and put his burger down. He seemed to be trying to figure out what to say.

“Please,” Kise said feeling nervous again.

“Yeah. He said that at your old school, people thought you were gay.”

Kise blinked wondering.

“And… and Akashi said that it seemed like you had been bullied.”

Kagami looked up at him. “Physically bullied by werewolves.”

Kise didn’t know what to say. No, he couldn’t say anything. How could Akashi know? He’d never even talked to Kise. His scent… he had been right, but they said that Akashi was the next alpha. So maybe that’s why. But he didn’t need to tell everyone. That wasn’t his secret to tell! Why would he do that? How could he?

“Kise he just he wanted us to stop intimidating you. He could tell that you were afraid of us, and we didn’t realize. That’s why,” Kagami said pleadingly. Kise tried to focus. That made sense it did, but he was having trouble…   breathing…….

 

In     out           in   out.

 

 

Kagami was holding his face and staring at him.

“Are you ok?”

Kise nodded vaguely and Kagami let go. They weren’t at Maji anymore, but standing by a brick wall. Kagami must’ve moved them. Well he’d seen Kise have a panic attack before.

“I’m sorry. I know you’re angry.”

“No….” He took another deep breath. “I just I was confused. But it’s…” he looked around straightening up. “It’s ok.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to freak you out.”

“No, no I’d rather know that you all know that I was uh bullied.” He was very aware that Kagami hadn’t mentioned anything about anything else. “He didn’t say anything else did he?”

“No.”

Kise nodded.

“Shit we should go,” Kagami said as he checked his phone clock.

Kise was five minutes late to his afternoon class.

***

“Where were you at lunch?” Aomine asked as they changed for basketball.

“We went to Maji,” Kagami said. Aomine looked between them. Did he look hurt? No Kise must’ve imagined it, because Aomine wouldn't care, of course he wo- Kise flinched as Aomine slammed his locker shut and headed to the court.

“Why did you go to Maji suddenly?” Kuroko asked.

“I…” why did he feel like he’d done something wrong? They should’ve asked the others to come too right? But it wasn’t planned. They hadn’t meant to exclude anyone.

“It’s my fault. I ran into Kise and-”

“No,” Kise said quickly. They were the only one’s in the changing room now. “I’ve been off today. Kagami saw me and thought that I might need a break. He told me that you know about the bullying. At my old school. Actually I still have nightmares. And I just I don’t feel ok some days.”

And Kuroko hugged him. Kise stood stock still for a minute before leaning down to hug him back. It was fast and after Kuroko just patted his arm.

“It was good that Kagami could be there for you,” Kuroko said as he smiled.

Kise looked over to where Kagami was looking relieved in the corner. Kise bowed out of the changing room.

“We should’ve asked you to come,” Kagami said to Kuroko.

“No, I meant what I said. You’re good at being there for people. And Kise needs that in his friends,” Kuroko said. Kagami smiled. “But I think that Aomine is more angry,” Kuroko continued.

“Shit. But why? Did he want to go that badly? We can go on Friday.”

Kuroko sighed and then just left shaking his head. “Let’s go Kagami.” What? What was that for!

***

Kise went to the court looking around, but Aomine was already paired up with Haizaki and doing stretching. He hovered awkwardly before Kuroko came and said that they could stretch with Kagami. When Himuro and Murasakibara asked about lunch Kuroko told them about how Kise had had an off day and Kagami had helped him. The look in Himuro’s eyes told Kise that he understood completely. He looked over at Aomine again who was resolutely ignoring them. Himuro had followed his line of sight and marched right over to Aomine, who let himself be dragged off the court for what seemed to be a stern talking-to. Kise worried even more that Aomine was being yelled at because of him, although he had no idea why.

When they came back Aomine looked slightly ashamed and asked Kise if he wanted to practice layups together. Kise did want to and so they paired up.

There was no one quite like Aomine on the court. Kise wouldn’t have told him, but he was sure that practicing with Aomine was part of what made him so much happier these days. There was something electric in how Aomine moved, and Kise wanted that too.

***

The weekend before Christmas his mom and him decorated the tree that they’d picked out after Thanksgiving. Ever year they listened to George Winston’s December album and put up ornaments and stockings. Kise’s stocking was one that his mom had made for him. It was gold and had little animals stitched all over it. His parent’s stockings were red and they hung them over the fireplace. His dad would bring them spiced apple cider and sit in his chair. He did the lights every year on the tree, but he let them do the ornaments.

***

The team won their first three games of the season and then it was time for exams. Kise’s brain felt like it had meteors crashing around in it. He was starting to crack up with all the studying. The simple truth was that he was not in the habit of studying, but now that he was starting to feel ok some of the time he’d started caring more about his grades, which was kind of like realizing that you were on a sinking ship. His desk lamp had become his best friend. And his piano was collecting dust.

They had two and a half days for tests. His last test was Spanish and he barely made it out alive. He had maybe started to think that school could sometimes be ok, because he probably had friends now. But after Spanish he realized that he hadn’t washed his hair in three days. He was holding the stringy ends between his fingers when someone cleared their throat next to him.

“Kuroko hey,” he said letting the hair fall back into place. “What’d you think?”

“What’s the Spanish word for extremely exhausting?”

Kise shrugged and went back to grabbing his books out of his locker. “Maybe we’ll learn it in January.”

“But probably not,” Kuroko said. Kise laughed tiredly and they shut their lockers. “Are you heading home?”

“Yeah I want to sleep.”

“Ok, see you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Kise whined pitifully as he remembered that they had practice at 8:30 well at least he could sleep in a little bit later than usual.

***

Over break Kise still had homework, which he was ignoring and would do on the last day if possible. Fuck not the last day. They’d go down over New Year’s to see Kise’s grandma again so he’d do it before then. He had practice for most of the break so they’d stay at home, which actually Kise liked because he was exhausted. His parents didn’t mind that he attached himself to his bed and just marathoned The Walking Dead.

***

His dad was an amazing cook. He always cooked Christmas dinner for them. They’d open their stockings on Christmas Eve and then open the prezzies on Christmas morning. His dad had bought him more running gear, his mom had gotten him more sheet music and they planned to go clothes shopping before New Years, which was another tradition.

On Christmas night his phone rang. It was Kasamatsu.

“Yukio! Merry Christmas,” he said as he excused himself from the couch to go up to his room.

“Merry Christmas Ryouta.”

“What’d you do today?”

“We went on a pack run.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah it was… it was just really good.”

There was something in his voice.

“Yukio?”

“Hey listen I’ll talk to you later ok? Tell your parents merry Christmas for me ok?”

“Sure,” he said.

“All right talk to you later Ryouta.”

“Yeah, bye.”

Kasamatsu hung up. Kise stared at the phone. Something was off. But Kasamatsu didn’t seem to want to talk about it or maybe he couldn’t talk about it.

 

_To: Yukio_

_I’m here if you need to talk_

_Love you_

 

Kasamatsu responded two days later with a simple ‘ _thanks_. _’_ So he didn’t want to talk about it. Kise tried to just let it go, but it wasn’t like Kasamatsu to not talk to him about things.

***

Kise was actually kind of looking forward to going back to school. Something that he hadn’t felt in a long time, well since starting high school really. He felt mostly comfortable with the wolf pack. They were good guys. They helped him in basketball. They knew that he’d been bullied and they didn’t use it against him. He felt like maybe he could actually be safe.

***

It was a week after the new term started when Kasamatsu called him again.

“Hello?”

Kasamatsu was silent for so long that Kise thought that maybe the call had been dropped.

“Yuk-”

“Ryou-”

“Sorry go ahead,” Kise said.

He could hear Kasamatsu take a deep breath.

“I’ve signed up to go to some inter-pack events.”

“Inter-pack events?”

“Yeah they’re um used to meet new people.”

There was something weird in how Kasamatsu was saying it. “Like to make friends?”

Kasamatsu was silent.

“Dating?” Kise said feeling his heart beat faster.

“Yes.”

Kise sat frozen at his desk.

“Well have you met anyone? Any cute girls?” he asked. That’s what you were supposed to ask right?

“I haven’t met anyone yet, I’m going to be going away from home for a little while at the end of February. There’s a program about 150 miles south, I’ll attend school there. And I- I’m not just meeting girls.”

Kise’s heart was now beating so fast that he could barely hear Kasamatsu over how loud it was.

“Are you still there?”

Kise bolted out of bed, shaking slightly. “What?” he could hear himself laughing slightly hysterically.

Kasamatsu had never talked about liking guys. No he’d never talked about liking anyone. Well he was too serious for that sort of thing. But… “You like guys?”

“For werewolves it doesn’t really matter. We are attracted to certain types, not genders, it’s hard to explain.”

“You never said….” But then again Kise had never asked.

“So for all werewolves, it can be guys, girls, other, werewolves, humans even?”

“Yes,” he said quietly. Kise sat back down clutching the phone.

“Why didn’t you tell me? All this time, we’ve been friends. I would’ve- I would’ve understood.”

“Would you?”

“What?”

“After what happened last year, how could I tell you? There were times that I wanted to explain. But I didn’t want you to think that I was like those Rakuzan assholes.”

“I wouldn’t have thought that….”

“Ryotua I was scared ok?”

“Scared?” why would a werewolf ever be scared of a human.

“You’re my best friend. You were being harassed by werewolves, and when I found out what Mibuchi had done, that it wasn’t just bullying, that he was, that he tried… when I smelled him on you- I just- I couldn’t- I snapped.”

“What are you talking about?” He’d never heard Kasamatsu sound so angry and he had definitely seen him get angry before.

“There’s something I haven’t told you.”

Kise felt like the room was freezing.

“Last year. You came to my house for the weekend.”

Kise remembered it had been in December. Mibuchi had progressed from creepy sniffing and comments to ushering Kise into bathrooms.

_“Just stay there like that, look at me. Let me see your face.”_

_It’s not real. I’m not here. I’m not here._

_Mibuchi pulled himself out of his pants, he had pushed Kise up against the wall so that they were facing each other. Kise used to try to fight back. But then Mibuchi would call the other two, and that’s how Kise had broken his arm, how he’d been so bruised that he’d started making excuses to not go to gym class and eventually quit basketball…._

_Mibuchi pulled his head back by his hair, Kise was staring at the ceiling. He could hear Mibuchi sliding his hand over himself. He reminded himself that it could be worse. Mibuchi never touched him below the belt. Sometimes he’d pull him out, sniff him, but he’d never- It could be worse. This wasn’t that bad. It could be worse._

_Mibuchi nosed along his neck._

_“One day Ryouta, one day I’m going to breed you. I’m going to do it. I promise you. I promise. You’re like a drug.”_

It had been a Friday. Finally Mibuchi had let him go and Kise had hurried home wearing his gym shorts because his pants were covered in Mibuchi’s cum. He’d scrubbed himself raw in the shower knowing that he was already late. He just wanted to see Kasamatsu. Everything would be fine if he could just be somewhere safe.

The memory was fresh in Kise’s mind, he felt a tear run down his cheek. Why was Kasamatsu bringing this up now?

“Ryouta I could smell him on you I- I’m sorry- I didn’t- I thought- I thought that you had a boyfriend. And I was so- I was so jealous. I thought you were late because you’d been having sex with your boyfriend. And I didn’t say anything because I was too busy being jealous and you smelled scared and I thought that it was because you didn’t want me to find out. I never realized, even though all the signs were there. And after that I stopped calling you, because I didn’t want to accidentally tell you how I felt, that my head was full of you.”

Kise was lying on his floor now, staring at the ceiling.

“I’m so sorry Ryouta I failed you, I’m sorry I’m so sorry.”

Kise didn’t know where to start, it was all too much. Kasamatsu had smelled Mibuchi. Kise felt ashamed, and sad, and embarrassed. It wasn’t Kasamatsu’s fault though, who would assume that their friend had been forced, their _male_ friend at that. Kise hadn’t said anything, and Kasamatsu thought that he was respecting Kise’s privacy. That Kise had wanted to hide it from him.

“I’m sorry,” Kasamatsu said again.

“How long?”

“What?”

“You liked me… how long?”

“Since we were kids.”

Kise couldn’t believe what he was hearing, over the phone no less. Out of the blue, for no reason- wait no not for no reason.

“What changed?” he said shakily, trying to focus.

“When I thought that you were seeing someone I forced myself to-” Kasamatsu let out a dry chuckle, “to be happy for you. And then well then a month later when they found you, and later in the year when you told me about what Mibuchi had done. The sniffing, the talking, the- the everything else I realized what I hadn’t noticed. And I knew that I could never stand by your side. I’d lost any potential of being more to you. I hadn’t helped you when you needed it and now you- you hate guys and werewolves.”

It was too much to take in, he needed to process this properly with his therapist.

“You don’t like me now?”

He waited.

“I have to move on. If something happened again and I still felt that way about you, then I’d never be able to notice. I couldn’t protect you when I was so… so caught up in liking you.”

Kise was fully crying now. He didn’t know what to think. “I don’t blame you. It wasn’t your fault. Nothing that happened, nothing bad was ever your fault.”

“How can you say that? Of course it’s my fault.”

Kise couldn’t breathe, and Kasamatsu just stayed on the line, telling him to breathe, waiting for him and finally he calmed down enough to talk again.

“So you’re looking for someone else now?” Kise finally said.

“I’m trying. I need to be able to actually think of you as my best friend not as....”

Kise didn’t need him to finished saying it. He understood.

“Ok.”

“Ryouta?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s ok if you’re upset with me, maybe not now but later when you’ve realized that so much could’ve been avoided. It’s ok to be mad at me, to yell at me, or- or whatever you need to do.”

Kise couldn’t say anything to that.

“I won’t fight back,” Kasamatsu added quietly. “I’ll wait for you to call.”

“Ok.”

Kise hung up. Somehow he managed to crawl into bed, his eyes puffy and his mind numb.

***

Kise told his parents that he needed to see his therapist. He didn’t go to school but instead sat in her office and told her everything that Kasamatsu had said.

She let him talk through all of his confused thoughts, and finally explain how he didn’t blame Kasamatsu, how he even felt bad that Kasamatsu had been feeling guilty all this time. Kise knew that sexual assault wasn’t the first thing on people’s minds and that Kasamatsu’s own feelings had probably made him think that he was overreacting. Kasamatsu had thought that he was the danger to Kise. That he’d ruin their friendship by telling Kise about his feelings.

“How do you feel about his claim that you’re now scared of werewolves and boys?”

“He’s right… and he’s not right. It’s just confusing now.”

“Before in our sessions you’ve mentioned your fears of people assuming that you’re gay.”

Kise nodded.

“And that you’ve befriended a group of boys who, as it sounds like are in fact LGBT+.”

“I’m not afraid of them, I was but I’m not now. They’re nothing like Mibuchi.”

“Kise I think that you need to start thinking about what you think about yourself, not what the others think of you. The boys from your old school what they said to you isn’t who you are, and the fears that you have at your new school that’s not who you are either. You get to decide. Your sexuality, your feelings, your fears too.”

His mom drove him home and he was back in school the next day.

***

He was standing in front of his locker holding the photo of him and Kasamatsu. He’d been so scared when he’d first started school, that people would think that he was gay. He didn’t want to let that fear control his life. Mibuchi had taken so much from him already. It was because of him that Kasamatsu had been feeling guilty. Kise put the photo up on his locker door with tiny black magnets.

He shut his locker and leaned his head on it feeling exhausted.

“Good morning.”

“Kuroko, morning,” he said as he turned to face him, still leaning against the lockers.

“Do you want to come to Maji with us after school?”

Kise stood up straight.

“I can’t today,” he said. “Next time?”

***

At lunch his brain was half on Kasamatsu, and half on his friends. He did want to be friends. He really did. After practice he went straight to his piano. He needed this. He needed it right now.

***

After the weekend Kise felt a little calmer. He hadn’t talked to Kasamatsu at all and it was finally starting to hit him that Kasamatsu liked him. All those times that they’d had sleepovers, that they’d snuck out to go play basketball or go to the lake. Every time Kise had hugged him, gotten really close, whined to Kasamatsu about whatever it was – Kasamatsu had liked him through all of it. And even when he thought that Kise had a boyfriend he’d treated him like a friend. How lonely must he have been? But now, now he was looking for someone else to like, and Kise didn’t know how to feel about that. Why was he so unsettled?

***

He got to school on Monday feeling subdued. At least there was basketball after school.

At lunch he didn’t really have much to say, but he was glad that the other’s just kind of let him be. Sure Kagami kept shooting him worried looks, and Aomine looked constipated with, what Kise was sure was the force required to force himself not to check in on Kise. Kise must be in really bad shape if Aomine had noticed. He had the feeling that Kuroko had told them to just let it go, that they didn’t need to know everything, because he couldn’t imagine Aomine not blurting something out if he saw something wrong – he was reactionary that way.

He’d been considering the Kasamatsu situation for a couple weeks and not really getting anywhere. At the back of his mind something had started to creep in and once Kise had acknowledged it he couldn’t let it go. He had to ask someone the only question was who.

***

“Himuro can I ask you something uh privately?”

“Sure.”

They walked outside. Kise wasn’t sure how good werewolf hearing was so he got out his history notebook and wrote down: **Is it normal for a werewolf to only like one person for a long time?**

Himuro stared at the words, a slight crease in his brow before he took the notebook.

**You don’t mean mates right?**

**Not mates, just regular werewolves.** Kise wrote.

**They tend to like people more seriously than humans do… but it can be similar to humans.**

So it wasn’t necessarily strange that Kasamatsu had liked him for so long.

“Are you ok?”

“I just have a lot on my mind. My friend told me that werewolf sexuality is fluid, is it the same for human pack members?”

Himuro smiled. “No, we don’t have the same instincts as werewolves, it’s all nurture not nature that we feel connected to our packs even.”

“Oh.”

They stood there for a little while before heading back inside.

“Kise have you ever dated anyone?”

“Uh no,” his stupid mind came up with Mibuchi and Kasamatsu, neither of whom he’d ever dated. “Himuro what about you? Before Murasakibara were you ever even interested in anyone else?”

Himuro smiled and shook his head.

“Sometimes humans with mates are already dating someone else, or married when their werewolf mate finally meets them, but… well the human doesn’t know that they had a mate in the first place, really it’s the werewolf that has the mate, not the human.”

“But then what happens to the werewolf who can’t be with their mate….”

“They’re kind of screwed.”

Kise jumped as Kagami came over.

“Kagami, way to make an entrance.”

“Sorry I was actually looking for you so it’s not like I was listening in on purpose.”

“It’s fine,” Himuro said.

“Anyways yeah they kind of lose their shit, usually choose a life of celibacy claiming that they’ll never be whole again.”

“What?” Kise said.

“Don’t exaggerate," Himuro chastised. "But it is true that many of them choose not to participate in any other relationships, they’d rather just stick with their unrequited love. Some do date, but usually they choose a partner who is experiencing the same thing, and sometimes they’re unable to bond.”

“That sounds awful….”

He couldn’t help it anymore. The question was there: What if he was Kasamatsu’s mate? What if Kasamatsu was denying himself a chance because he felt like he didn’t deserve Kise? But did Kise even like him? He wasn’t sure… if he did like him he would know right? No, not necessarily, he’d gotten all messed up because of Mibuchi, maybe he would’ve known otherwise. Maybe they would’ve already started dating.

“Are you ok?”

“Hmm?”

“Just all these questions.”

“No I’m ok, just trying to figure something out, but I guess I should just be talking to the source and not researching on my own.”

“Do you know someone who’s having mate problems?”

“Maybe…. I have to go catch the bus, thanks for all of your help. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“***

Was he actually going to do this? He stared down at his black cell phone screen. He had to do this. For Kasamatsu. He called Kasamatsu, willing himself to stay calm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise we'll get some answers soon. Please don't stake me.


	8. Closure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kasamatsu's story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey friends. So this chapter is very short. It's actually more of an insert from Kasamatsu's POV. There are two reasons that I put it in as it's own chapter. Firstly, the tone is very specific. And secondly, I believe that Kasamatsu deserves to have his own chapter because his character arc is important in and of itself and to the greater story and plot. So, I hope that you find it as interesting as I do. 
> 
> Also I forgot to add earlier, but Kasamatsu is a senior.

Kasamatsu sat down at his desk chair. It was exhausting. His whole life was exhausting. The mistakes he’d made, the things that he hadn’t seen, piling, piling, so high that he couldn’t see the top of it anymore. He needed

 

peace

 

He needed to not feel like all he’d done wrong was suffocating him anymore. Yes, he loved him. How could he not? Kise was amazing.

He looked back down at his packet for the werewolf camp, it sounded ridiculous.

 

**Can’t find your mate? Found your mate but they’re with someone else? Confused about whether you have a mate or not? Worried that your mate is with someone else or is no long with us?**

**Our guide will help you find clarity and discover what’s really holding you back and how to move forward.**

**Come join us as we meet werewolves throughout the US. If you have a mate, you’ll know when you meet them.**

He brushed his fingers over the description _you’ll know when you meet them._ He was going to die alone, he’d never have sex, he’d never share his bed with anyone, wake up to someone, stare into someone’s eyes and feel like they were his and he was theirs. He was destined to be incomplete, a half of a whole.

His phone rang _Ryouta_. Of course. He steeled himself and picked up.

“Ryouta?”

“Yukio I want to ask you something.”

Kasamatsu hesitated. He had an idea of what Kise would ask, but that didn’t make hearing it any better. Finally he grit his teeth.

“Ok.”

There was a deep inhale on the other end.

“Am I your mate?”

Kasamatsu stared out the window, unprepared.

“Hello?” Kise said.

Kasamatsu’s heartbeat was erratic he clicked **End Call**.

“Shit,” he said as he smacked his head on the table, righted himself again, and called back.

“Hello?” Kise said. There was a frantic edge to his voice and Kasamatsu forced himself to focus.

“Why did you ask that?”

“Because… you said that you’d always liked me and Himuro told me that sometimes werewolves with human mates end up just sticking it out alone forever.”

Kasamatsu groaned. Kise’s newfound werewolf friends were definitely making this difficult for him.

“Ryouta how do you feel about me?”

“What?”

Of course this question surprised him. Kasamatsu, on the other hand, wasn’t surprised at all that Kise had jumped to call him without worrying about his own feelings. That was just like Kise.

“Shouldn’t you be thinking about that and not whether you’re my mate or not?”

“But-” No. He was squashing this selflessness on Kise’s part before it even started.

“Ryouta. If I say yes would you date me just so that I’d never be alone?”

He didn’t need to wait for Kise to say it. They both knew that he would.

“And what if I said that no you weren’t, would you feel relieved? Sad? Ryouta I can’t answer that. Whether I have a mate or not, it shouldn’t change your feelings. So please, don’t ask me until you know how you feel about me,” he said fiercely.

“I’m sorry.”

“No it’s ok. I’m a little confused too, just be selfish for once, think about what you want. And then if you still want to ask me again you can.”

“Ok. I will. I’ll think about it and- and ask you.”

After they hung up Kasamatsu felt like he was well and truly done.

***

It took three weeks for Kise to call him again. Kasamatsu would never be ready for this conversation, but he had no choice.

“Hey,” he said as he clicked the phone on.

“Hi, um I thought about what you said. Everything and… and I think that I figured it out.”

Kasamatsu waited, Kise didn’t even realize how much road on this. How he was about to determine the course of Kasamatsu’s life.

“I-”

There was a shaky breath and Kasamatsu mentally apologized for adding to Kise’s stress.

“I don’t feel that way about you,” he finally said.

It was over. He felt his insides harden.

“Yukio?”

“Thank you for telling me,” he murmured, and was mortified to hear how soft his voice had gotten.

“Please, I want to know. Am I your mate?”

He took a deep breath.

“No, you’re not.”

Kise sighed before stopping.

“Are you just saying that so that I won’t feel bad?”

Kasamatsu let out a dry chuckle.

“I’m not. The truth is I didn’t know.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“I have a mate, I know I do. I honestly thought it was you – for so long… so long I thought it was you. But then… after last year when I thought that you had a boyfriend I realized that if you truly were my mate, and we had grown up together, then you would’ve liked me to. And even though I found out later that you hadn’t been dating anyone at all the truth of that idea never died. For the past year I’ve been wondering how you feel about me. That’s why I needed you to answer honestly now. If you don’t like me, then you can’t be my mate.”

Kise was silent and Kasamatsu felt a wave of sadness wash over him.

“I really thought that you were,” Kasamatsu said quietly. He thought that Kise would say that after everything that had happened, that even though he liked Kasamatsu he could never be with him. Because Kasamatsu hadn’t been there for him. Kasamatsu should feel good now. Relieved even, that he hadn’t fucked everything up with his mate, that he still had a mate out there, but for the moment for this small moment he just felt crushed. He’d spent his whole life trying to fit his puzzle piece with someone who didn’t match. How would he ever be able to tell who his mate actually was? How would he ever be able to stand in front of them and feel like he was enough?

“I’m sorry,” Kise whispered.

“I’m sorry too.”

“When do you leave?”

“Next week.” He stared at his desk before coming to a decision. “Can I come see you? Just… just one last time before I go.”

“Yes.”

***

He didn’t put music on in the car on the drive up. Instead he sat there and ran through his plan one more time. He needed to say goodbye properly. When he came back things would be different, they’d still be friends, but everything had changed now.

When he pulled up in front of Kise’s house he could see Kise’s bedroom light on and he felt a dull ache in his chest. Never before had he wished that he didn’t have the emptiness. If he didn’t have a mate then he mightn’t have worried so much. Maybe he would’ve told Kise about his feelings sooner. Maybe he would’ve moved on already when Kise rejected him. Maybe they’d be normal friends and Kasamatsu wouldn’t have to go to a special rehabilitation camp for people who couldn’t find their mates.

No matter what anyone said that's what it was.

Kasamatsu had begrudgingly told his parents about the situation with Kise. They’d said that when werewolves with mates got to be about his age their hormones would kick in – they’d need to find their mate. Back in the old days werewolves who didn’t find their mates would often turn feral.

It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t a gift to have a mate. As far as Kasamatsu was concerned, it was a curse. But that’s why they had these groups now, to help werewolves find inner peace and calm, so that they wouldn’t go off and kill everyone. He just hoped that he wouldn’t crack up when the pull set in. That’s what happened in your 20’s. You’d be pulled towards your mate.

The groups would go to different packs to meet everyone, if their mate was there then they’d feel it. If their mate was with someone else by the time that they were pulled towards them then these groups would help them learn how to cope. The pamphlets said that they had an 80% success rate for finding participants’ mates. And that the other 20% still gained valuable tools for calming their wolf so that they could live normal healthy lives. Kasamatsu thought that this must be what chronic depression was like. If you handled it well you could still be happy, you’d just always feel kind of off though.

He finally got out of the car and went up the front steps.

“Kasamatsu!” Kise’s mother said as she opened the door. “Ryouta says that you can’t stay over tonight,” she said frowning.

“Yes, I have to get back home. I’m sorry.”

“No it’s just such a long drive. Will you be ok?”

“I’ll stop on the way,” he said.

“Ok, if you change your mind and need to stay you can,” she said as she patted his cheek.

He tried not to think that in a different universe this could’ve been his mother-in-law.

But then he heard movement on the stairs and his head shot up to see Kise. Kise with his hair slightly shorter than last time, his dark skinny jeans and blue cardigan over a white v-neck making him look as beautiful as ever. He really was beautiful. Kasamatsu felt his heart implode a little more.

“Hey,” Kise finally said.

“Hey.”

“Do you want to come up?”

That was a bad idea. Kise’s room was a no-zone.

“If we could just go outside,” Kasamatsu said.

They went out front, it was cold enough now that none of Kise’s neighbors were out so they were alone.

“Kise I…” crap he’d thought this through, he needed to focus. “I just want to thank you for sticking by me through everything. And I’m sorry for everything that’s happened.”

Kise looked hesitant, but Kasamatsu just continued on.

“And I wanted to bring you this, before I go.”

He pulled out the small brown package and passed it over. Kise pulled off the ribbon with slightly trembling fingers and then opened the box to stare inside.

Kasamatsu could see him realizing what it was.

“You kept it all this time?” Kise asked incredulous.

“It’s why you fell.”

Kise picked up the small coral. The one that he’d brought for Kasamatsu to see all those years ago when he climbed the tree behind Kasamatsu’s house.

“Yukio…” he said softly and Kasamatsu forced himself not to wish for anything more. “I don’t want you to feel bad anymore. I’ve told you that I never blamed you.”

“I know.”

“Please let this go,” Kise said as he held the coral in his hand. “You don’t owe me anything ok?”

Kasamatsu closed his eyes. He told himself that it was finally his time. His time to move forward to let this go, even though he didn’t want to. He wanted to be with Kise, that’s all he’d ever wanted, but it had never worked, because it was wrong. He needed to be strong, he needed to trust that there was someone else, someone who he was supposed to be with, who would love him. He opened his eyes.

“I know. That’s why I’m giving this back to you,” he said. Kasamatsu’s hand reached up to hold Kise’s cheek. Kise put his own hand up to hold it there his eyelids fluttering closed. Letting Kasamatsu lean in if he wanted to. But he didn’t. This face wasn’t his to have. This soul wasn’t the one that he was supposed to be yearning for. Instead he kissed the top of Kise’s forehead and then drew back.

“Thank you,” Kasamatsu said.

Kise opened his eyes in a daze, surprise written allover his face, and Kasamatsu smiled at him, knowing that it looked sad.

“I hope that you can move on now,” Kise said.

Kasamatsu nodded.

“My mate is out there.” And even though he didn’t believe that there could be someone better than Kise for him he tried to.

Kise nodded. “Good luck Yukio.”

“Goodbye Ryouta,” he murmured.

And he left, hurrying into his car and speeding away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) If you're wondering why Kasamatsu never tried to take Kise’s pain away to figure out if they were mates or not: I thought that after Kise falls Kasamatsu would be afraid to ever touch him again and thus doesn't try this tactic. And I believe that Kasamatsu would find it dishonorable because it would be sneaky and Kise wouldn't understand what Kasamatsu was doing. (Or he'd have to explain his feelings to Kise and he doesn't want to do that. 
> 
> 2) One of the things that I've been thinking a lot about is the burden of soulmates. I think that Kasamatsu as a character is well placed to experience the confusion that we often feel in dating. Sometimes you meet someone amazing but they're with someone else. Sometimes the amazing person is with you and yet it never seems quite right. I wanted Kasamatsu to experience this confusion of meeting someone who he is actually very well-suited for, but who is not his mate. How confusing would that be for a young werewolf? Especially one who had a complicated relationship with this person and oh yeah they're a human too so the responsibility of mate-recognition is all on Kasamatsu. 
> 
> 3) Anyways lol that's what I've been thinking. I love hearing what you thought about the latest chapter, especially this one which I particularly like, so please comment if you'd like to discuss :) I iz feeling philosophical so do share your opinions :)


	9. That Burrito Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wakamatsu is a rich bro.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a lil awks at the beginning because I had to go back and do like a weird past tense of what's been going on with Kise from Christmas up until mid February - which is the amount of time that Kasamatsu's narrative covered. I hope that it's ok.  
> Also because of this Kise's character is a lil different owing to the fact that he's been growing for the last six weeks too :)

Kise felt like the last six weeks had lasted a lifetime. He watched as Kasamatsu drove away and for the first time he realized how different their lives were. Kasamatsu was finally going somewhere that Kise couldn’t follow. He clutched at the small brown package tighter and just breathed in the cold air. It might be awhile before they saw each other again. Kasamatsu had long since driven away and it was fucking cold so he went inside.

“Sweetie is everything ok?”

“Yeah,” Kise said, “everything’s fine.” He didn’t explain when his mom gave him an inquiring look. Instead he just smiled and headed up to his room. When he had been trying to figure out his feelings he’d imagined going somewhere with Kasamatsu maybe out to eat or to take a walk holding hands, he’d thought about kissing him and it’d just felt… wrong. Not bad, but not right. Maybe it was because Kasamatsu was a werewolf. He’d thought about kissing Kagami and snorted. He was pretty sure that Kagami would be looking over his shoulder wondering where Kuroko was or thinking about how best to defeat Aomine once and for all. Kise had picked up on these things in the last couple months. Maybe Kagami just liked Kuroko like a brother, but somehow Kise didn’t think so. He’d considered how he’d feel about kissing Kuroko – a human, but it still sounded wrong. And at the end of all this thinking the only thing that he could come up with was that if he liked Kasamatsu then he’d feel butterflies or something equally adorable if he thought of kissing him. And Kise didn’t. That was the cold hard truth. He’d never thought about those things with him, dates, kissing… more. What was even stranger and more confusing was that he didn’t find the idea of kissing a boy disgusting. And that made him even more unsure of everything.

As Kise sat at his desk staring out the window Kasamatsu texted to say that phones weren’t allowed at his camp. The participants could only receive calls on a camp phone from their alpha for the first week and then their parents and siblings for the rest of their time. Kise didn’t even really understand what kind of place he was going to. But it seemed that they would truly be separated for a while.

He was exhausted. Every waking minute had been devoted to basketball or thinking about his damn feelings. Now, they only had one game left. It was a big deal, because they’d made it to finals for their state. Throughout it all he had just thanked the powers that be that he no longer lived in the same state as Rakuzan.

***

As he lay in bed he felt an indescribable sense of loss. He wanted Kasamatsu to be happy, to find his mate, but the whole fiasco had started him thinking. Kise had never dated anyone. He’d never really liked anyone. He remembered before the Rakuzan wolves how carefree he was. He’d felt excited about high school. Meeting people, maybe dating someone. But then… after that… he pushed the memories down. Now though he kind of maybe wanted to try it. Unconsciously he’d let his fingers glide over his lips. He wanted to kiss someone like he meant it. And then he snapped out of his romantic musings, blushing hard and feeling like a fool. He groaned at his own damn self and rolled over. Go the fuck to bed Ryouta, he thought furiously. This frivolous thinking was going to make him ill.

***

Recently, the only times that he wasn’t feeling confused were when he was playing basketball or eating lunch with the lone wolfpack. He almost never worried about what he did or said anymore in front of them. In fact he was pretty sure that he could attribute this to his preoccupation with Kasamatsu. He had been so passed the point of being able to care about everything that he just kind of stopped caring with the wolves. He just did what he did and they seemed fine with that, actually they seemed quite happy about it. Now when Kagami got too in his face Kise just stepped back and Kagami seemed to get the hint and would move back too. Although Aomine still acted weird at all times, Kise had gotten used to not ever being used to it. He’d accepted that, because Aomine’s weird wasn’t creepy.

And then there was basketball. They really knew how to play, and they liked how Kise played. It had started out as him wondering how he could still be good. And then it had turned into something more tangible, like a mini flame in his heart. He worked harder than anyone, somehow the idea of becoming better than the werewolves at Rakuzan made him overtly ambitious and his confusion about Kasamatsu had just added to it all.

_“Momoi, can I ask you something?”_

_She turned in surprise. “Kise… what is it?”_

_“I want some extra practice, would you help me?”_

_Momoi tapped her clipboard before smiling. “What can I do?”_

They stayed after practice some days. Momoi telling the others to scram.

_“I’m trying to learn something,” Kise had said. He’d thought about how much to tell her. He wasn’t sure but he’d finally written it down in case the others were listening. He’d told her about the boys who used to terrorize him at his old school. How he wanted to be able to do everything that they could and more…. He left out the creep factor information though – that wasn’t something he wanted to talk about._

_She’d gotten tapes of their games and Kise hated seeing their faces but he was going to take their moves, he was going to do them perfectly. He studied the tapes at home and then went to the street court by his house._

_“Ki-chan I think that you’ve mastered it… you’re really incredible.”_

_Kise was bent over sweating and feeling a cocky sort of pride at having been able to copy Mibuchi’s assholeish play style. Well it was assholery because it was him, the style itself was fine._

_“I think…” Momoi paused and Kise looked up to watch her thinking through what she wanted to say. “If you wanted to you could set your sights a bit higher.”_

_Kise straightened up. “I want to.”_

And that’s how he’d started copying the others on his team. He didn’t use their moves in games. But he started watching other game tapes, and every week he and Momoi would add to his repertoire.

And then he finally said goodbye to Kasamatsu and that’s when he’d watched Kasamatsu’s game tape. He didn’t want to copy him, somehow Kasamatsu’s style felt like it wasn’t something that Kise should emulate. So he let it go.

***

The day after Kasamatsu gave him the coral Kise woke up feeling like lead. He had barely slept. He kept having confusing dreams. Dreams of him on dates with Kasamatsu, but he was painfully aware that he was dreaming and he kept thinking _but I’m not your mate, why are we dating?_ He’d wake up sweaty and feeling weird and then be restless all over again.

He showered that morning because he was so gross. And then he froze, dripping wet and standing starkers in the bathroom. He glanced at the mirror and then looked away, his cheeks heating up. He hadn’t looked at himself recently. Like _really_ looked at himself.

What was it that Kasamatsu found attractive? He turned towards the mirror and tried to breathe evenly as he stared into his own eyes. It just didn’t seem possible that someone as cool as Kasamatsu could find the sort of person that Mibuchi liked, as attractive. He looked down, at his chest, his arms, his stomach – he had muscle definition. But he didn’t look like Aomine and Kagami. Kise was leaner. He saw the little trail of hair that led down. He bit his tongue as he looked at it. They’d just learned in health class that the average size for a werewolf was seven inches. Kise wondered if Aomine was seven inches. No he was probably bigger. He didn’t overcompensate, but he was still really attractive. He was probably pretty hung, Kise wanted to know, wanted to touch- he startled out of his daze and shook with shame as he saw the expression on his face. What the hell had he just been thinking? He quickly put his clothes on and felt nauseous when he pulled on his briefs – he had chubbed up a little. How could he have thought about his friend that way? He hated himself. It was like he was turning into a pervert, into Mibuchi… he hurried out of the bathroom and over to his room to add about eight more layers until he felt safe in his oversized sweater.

***

He was so on edge that by the time he got to school he dreaded seeing Aomine. He went to his locker.

“Kise.”

Jumping, Kise smacked his head into his locker door and felt it throb.

Kuroko and Kagami were staring at him, and Kise willed himself not to turn and seek out Aomine. He felt the same guilt that he’d felt earlier bubbling up in his stomach.

“What’s wrong?” Kagami asked.

“Nothing,” Kise said quickly – too quickly.

“You can talk to us if you want,” Kuroko said.

“No, sorry it’s nothing,” he stopped and took a breath, collecting himself. He’d been getting better at focusing – at stopping the anxiety before it started.

“I’m fine,” he said as he smiled at them. They looked startled, but Kise kept the mask of forced calm on. He wasn’t going to let his feelings run away from him, his ambitions used to be so strong, and now that they were finally coming back he wasn’t going to let anything stand in his way.

After that initial encounter in the morning he was able to pull himself together. True he had gone pink and stared for much too long when he saw Aomine in the hall, but when Aomine said ‘hey’ giving him a strange expression, Kise managed to act normal and wave back before going into his next class. He was thankful that werewolves couldn’t read minds or he’d be in trouble. As it was he was sure that Aomine could still smell his strange shame at lunch, but he wouldn’t know what the shame was for.

***

The last game had finally arrived and Kise didn’t feel nervous – he felt determined. They were neck and neck with the other team, going faster and harder as the game progressed and then finally in the last quarter Kise had been speeding towards the basket and without realizing it he’d leapt into the air to land a powerful dunk exactly as Kagami was known to do.

They hadn’t had time to discuss it during the rest of the time on the clock. And after the game the team was in such a state of wild euphoria that all Kagami could do was clap him on the back and shake his head in confusion.

They were going to an after party and Kise had already asked his mom if he could stay over at a friend’s house. That ‘friend’ turning out to be Momoi’s rich ass boyfriend Wakamatsu. Wakamatsu was a senior at their school, abd their family had a country house that they were going to use with no adult supervision.

Kise had been to exactly three high school parties: one at his old school right before things had started going badly and two with Kasamatsu. Kasamatsu’s friends played videogames and ate Dorito’s and pizza. There was no alcohol – although Kise had had a couple drinks at the first party and promptly stopped when he felt tipsy, because his classmate had been throwing up and Kise had needed to help him out.

Kise had his duffel bag in the back of Kagami’s car as they meandered up to Wakamatsu’s country house.

It was in the woods.

“This is only like five miles from the edge of our property,” Kagami said to Kise as they parked. The whole team was there, even Haizaki who claimed that he had a sex friend to go get before he’d make his way over. Kise wasn’t sure about that guy. He was kind of a dick, but not an asshole. It was weird. They got out of the car and went up to the house.

“Yo,” said a huge blonde guy as the door was swung open. Kise introduced himself after the rest had said their greetings.

“Ok you know the rules: don’t break shit, don’t puke outside of the bathroom, and don’t go in my room. Congrats,” he finished as he let them in. It seemed to Kise that the rest of the school had made their way over directly after the game. It was already crowded and the music was blaring. There were people allover the house as they headed in. Kise hadn’t realized how many people there were who had come to the game. Even weirder were the people cheering when they came in, some congratulating Kise and telling him how cool he’d been. He didn’t even know some of these people, although he did recognize everyone. It was a small school after all, so even though most of the people were juniors and seniors he knew them by reputation.

There was a group of people dancing enthusiastically in a bigger den area. Kise wondered if he had enough alcohol if he’d join in. He didn’t want to worry tonight.

They got to the kitchen where Himuro was already holding a drink and talking to some other seniors while being held from behind by Murasakibara who was drinking nothing and just staring at the others.

“Ki-chan!” Momoi said as she came up to him and handed him a red cup. “What do you want? Kuroko?”

“We got McDonald’s on the way,” Kuroko said as he held up a huge vanilla shake.

Momoi turned to Kise.

“What should I have?” Kise asked

“Hmm do you usually drink?”

Before Kise could answer the giant boyfriend was reaching out to Kise over Momoi.

“Here,” said Wakamatsu as he held out a flask.

Kise peered at it suspiciously as Momoi hit Wakamatsu’s chest and rolled her eyes.

“You don’t have to.”

“What is it?”

“Whiskey.”

Kise sniffed it. Gross. But he remembered the dance floor. He turned to Aomine and Kagami. “Are you going to drink?”

“We can’t get drunk so,” Kagami shrugged.

“Oh, uh if I drink will you just, make sure that” that I’m ok’ he finished in his head.

“Yes,” said Aomine promptly. And feeling bolstered by this Kise took a swig, coughed, but managed to swallow it all all the same.

Wakamatsu was laughing as Kise thrust the flask back.

“Here,” he said handing Kise a beer.

Kise clutched it as he turned back to the others. He felt kind of weird drinking without them, but it was a party right? And Aomine had said that they had his back.

“Hey!”

Kise turned to see Takao coming into the kitchen and beaming.

“Takao,” said Kuroko.

“You guys were fan-freaking-tastic.”

“Where’s Midorima?”

“Shin wouldn’t come,” Takao said sighing dramatically but then perking up when he eyed the alcohol. “But I can always drunk text him sweet nothings later.”

Aomine and Kagami went to play beer pong while Kuroko disappeared to who knew where. Kise had followed Takao over to where a group of juniors were talking about the latest Batman movie that was coming out in theaters. Kise had never talked to them before, but found that he didn’t mind so much right now. He was high off of winning, and maybe feeling a little tipsy.

“Let’s get more drinks!” Takao said.

After their second beers Kise looked around hoping to spot his friends but there were now so many people that he could barely make anyone out.

“I’m going to go dance,” Takao said into Kise’s ear. Kise nodded and followed him, grabbing onto his shoulder as they maneuvered through the other teenagers. Kise saw a few boys pressed so closely to the girls in front of them that Kise was sure that they were hard. The alcohol was definitely helping him get in the right headspace he thought as he and Takao found a spot on the floor near some girls that Kise had Spanish with. He liked this a lot better than the awkward horizontal grindfest that he’d seen elsewhere on the dance floor. No this was better. He felt himself loosening up as he, Takao and his classmates sang along to the song, got low, put their hands up and felt the music. Kise had always felt that dancing came pretty naturally to him, it was easy and simple to just let his body take over.

“I need to pee!” one of the girls yelled to her friend.

“Let’s get more drinks,” said another. “Coming?”

Kise and Takao hurried off the dance floor in their wake to get their own beverages. Takao pulled Kise over to where he’d hidden his bag.

“Cheers!” he said as he handed him a bottle of vodka after taking a swig. Kise took a gulp, coughing slightly less than the first time. They chugged soda as a chaser and then somehow found themselves talking to another cluster of people about weed. Takao had said that he didn’t want any.

“K we’re going to the garage.”

Kise had never smoked, but he wasn’t opposed to it, maybe next time. He and Takao meandered back towards the dance room, talking to various people along the way. Kise was pretty sure that he’d met about 50 new people just by being with Takao.

After a few more songs Kise realized that he needed to use the bathroom.

“Want me to come with?” Takao said. “Make sure no one busts in on you?”

“It’s ok!” Kise said cheerily as he made his way out of the throng.

He was just at the edge of the crowd when he saw Kagami and Aomine standing by the wall and talking. “Kagamicchi, Aominecchi,” Kise said as he went over.

“Kise,” Kagami said as he stared at him. Kise was aware that he’d just called them by nicknames, but didn’t feel the need to apologize. “How much did you drink?”

“Two beers and some vodka, wait no,” he’d forgotten after the first swig. “And the whiskey from Wakamatsu.”

Aomine leaned closer and took in his face.

“Are you ok?”

“I’m fine,” Kise said. “I’m finding the bathroom. Or a bathroom.”

“Here I’ll show you,” Aomine said.

“Thanks!”

Aomine lead him up the stairs. “There’s someone in there,” he said as they passed a door and continued up to the next floor.

“How do you know?”

“I could hear someone puking.”

“That’s really gross.”

“You get used to it,” he said as they reached the next landing. “Fuck.”

“What?”

Aomine looked put upon as he smacked his fist against the door.

Kise heard a shriek, a giggle, then a loud “shhhushhh.”

“Stop making out, people have to pee,” Aomine yelled.

Kise waited. Nothing happened for a minute and then Aomine was pounding rapid fire until he heard someone saying, “fine shut up asshole.”

The door opened and Haizaki came out with a girl who was bright red in the face.

“Oh,” Haizaki smirked looking between Aomine and Kise.

“There’s a closet over there,” Aomine said as he pointed behind him and glared.

“Sorry, didn’t realize that you two needed it so bad.”

Kise knew that Haizaki was being weird but he didn’t care, all he wanted was to pee.

“Aominecchi,” he said.

“Go on,” Aomine answered. “I’ll wait.”

Kise hurried in and somehow managed to shut the door and pee in peace.

When he came out Aomine was leaning against the wall.

“Have you had any water yet?” Aomine asked.

Kise shook his head.

“Come on.”

They went to the kitchen and Aomine forced him to drink a whole glass of water.

“Hey we’re going to head out,” came a deep voice.

Kise looked up to where a large group of guys was saying goodbye to Wakamatsu who was checking to make sure that the driver was actually sober.

“What time is it?” Kise asked Aomine.

“Three.”

“What?” How had it gotten so late?

“Here.”

Kise took the refilled water and drank some more. “Where’re the others?”

“They went home.”

Kise blinked at him, he could feel his groggy brain going in and out of drunkenness.

“What about you?”

Aomine shrugged not looking at him.

“Are you going home too?” Kise asked. He felt his heart picking up pace. He didn’t want to be stuck here without anyone that he knew really well. Well Momoi was here, but he was sure that she’d be too preoccupied with Wakamatsu. How would he get home tomorrow? He’d have to walk.

“I’m staying. Kagami left his car. And I’ll drive you home whenever you want, tonight, tomorrow.”

“Oh. Is it ok?”

“What’d you mean?”

“Well don’t you want to go home too?”

Aomine shrugged again. “I’m fine. What do you want to do? Sleep? We can scope out a place for you.”

Kise could see that it was thinning out now as people migrated upstairs drunkenly or left.

“I’m not really tired.” Well he was but he didn’t want to sleep. He thought of Kasamatsu and the weird dreams that he’d been having recently. Aomine was watching him carefully and Kise stared back feeling like he could tell that Kise had thought of something less than fun.

“You want to go do something?”

“Like what?”

“We can go to a drive through. Are you hungry?”

“Yes,” Kise said as he realized to his horror that after the burger that he’d gotten after the game he hadn’t actually eaten. Which normally would be fine, but not post-basketball game and not after staying up so late. “Can we do Taco Bell?”

“Damn yes, burritos now.”

“Yes!” Kise said as he hurried to finish his water.

One trip to the bathroom later and they were in Kagami’s car and speeding towards Taco Bell.

They got burritos, breakfast, sodas, and all of the other crap that they didn’t usually eat in bulk during basketball season.

Aomine had driven them over to a lookout and they got out to sit on the hood of the car.

“Normally this would freak me out,” Kise observed as he looked out into the dark trees and shivered slightly.

“What? Why?” Aomine looked around.

“You’re not scared of the woods?”

“No.”

They spread out a picnic blanket on the hood and hauled the food out. Kise realized how cold it was and zipped up his jacket.

“Maybe it’s cause you’re a werewolf.”

Aomine was staring at him again.

“What?”

“Are you cold?”

“Well it’s cold out,” Kise said defensively. Aomine took off his jacket and held it out to him.

“No Aomine then you’ll be cold.”

Aomine shook his head.

“I run hot, all werewolves do when they become adults.”

“What?”

“Last year in cross country, I was shifting, it’s because I’d finally been able to transform,” he said nonchalantly. As if it was no big deal. But Kise knew from health class that it was considered a huge right of passage. “So here,” he shook the coat in front of Kise’s face.

Kise took it gingerly and watched Aomine just to make sure. But there were no bumps on his arms from cold, and no shivering.

“Thank you.”

He put the jacket over his legs and felt much more cozy.

“Are you scared of anything?” Kise asked as he grabbed his burrito.

Aomine opened his burrito and shook his head. “Well,” he said with his mouth full. “Aliens are freaky.”

“What?”

“Like if aliens were to come, that would really just not work for me.”

“Huh.”

“What about you?”

“Aliens don’t really scare me. It’s more um… well,” he smiled apologetically. The unspoken ‘werewolves’ hung on the air. “But well, I’m not scared right now. I mean, I’m with you so – but not, um,” he looked at Aomine willing him to get it.

“I don’t know what you’re saying.”

Kise bit into his burrito angrily but then jolted as some of the sauce poured out. Aomine’s hand zoomed over with a napkin.

“Tfanks,” he said as he tried to hide his mouth and take the napkin while not letting the sauce get anywhere. Somehow he managed.

“I,” he looked down at the burrito instead of Aomine, “would be scared of the woods, but I’m not because I know that you’re strong enough to stop anything that might come through there. I mean you’re a werewolf too, but it’s different with Aominecchi and the others.”

Fuck. Was he still slightly drunk? He peered up, worrying. Aomine was looking at him and Kise couldn’t quite read the expression on his face.

“Uh sorry I said something weird.” He hurriedly ate more burrito.

“No, it’s not weird. That makes sense.”

“It does?”

“Yeah.” Aomine nodded once looking completely at ease. “Don’t worry so much. It’s ok to think what you do.”

Aomine grabbed his waffle breakfast and Kise wondered how he could be so calm about everything. Aomine had two emotions as far as Kise could tell: annoyed and just happy. Or well that like pleasant emotion that carefree people have. Kise wasn’t used to that. Even before the whole werewolf debacle Kise had been calculating. Not in a manipulative way, but he was pretty good at reading people and he liked knowing what was going on. He’d realized that Mibuchi was bad news, but he hadn’t realized how bad and well knowing didn’t allow him to avoid Mibuchi any better.

Now as he sat outside, exhausted and yet alert with Aomine, he knew that Aomine was a good guy. Kise might’ve been drunk, but he wasn’t fooled. Aomine was watching out for him at the party. He was being a really good friend.

They ate more and talked about the game and around five they finished eating. If he went home now his parents would know that he’d been up all night. But he wasn’t sure what to do. Aomine jumped off the hood and unlocked the car.

“I’ll put the heat on.”

They ended up falling asleep in the car with their seats reclined, Aomine’s jacket on Kise’s legs still.

He only slept a couple of hours. And when he woke up it was to see Aomine standing outside and watching the sunrise. When he shifted in his seat Aomine looked back and walked over, he must’ve heard him.

“You ready?”

Kise nodded and Aomine started the car. Neither of them said anything. And then right as they were pulling onto his street Aomine spoke.

“Hey so basketball season is over.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you want to go 1-on-1?”

Kise blinked sleepily, that sounded like a really good challenge. “Yeah we should.”

“Ok I still don’t have your number.”

“Oh,” Kise hauled out his phone and passed it to Aomine when they got to his driveway. Aomine put his contact info in and Kise sent him a text with a simple _(**)_ face. He heard Aomine’s phone buzz. “Ok, thanks for driving me and- and everything else.”

“Sure.”

***

Kise’s mom asked a lot of questions about how his night had been. He was vague and bent the truth to breaking point. But he wasn’t telling his mom that he’d had alcohol, especially not when it was supposed to make him feel worse because of his meds, although he’d actually felt pretty good.

Now though he was just dead tired.

He had to do all his homework, as it was Sunday. So after a lengthy nap he hit the books.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lmk if you have any questions or comments (or if there be any real bad grammar or confusion that I need to fix).


	10. Purpose or A Train is Coming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi friends! This chapter is pretty short. I've been really struggling to write this story. I was trying to decide if I should just ditch the plot and make it all about AoKi or if I should get my ass in gear and figure out how to make the plot happen. I've decided to make the plot happen, but this means that I've been spending a lot of time working on the outline of the story and not a lot of time actually writing... because of this my updates are going to be a little slow and I think that I'm going to stick to shorter chapters for now. Sorry for the delays in updates. But I don't want to write this half-assedly so... you know I gotta take time *sigh*

Kuroko watched as the girl in front of him clutched her red cup. She was blushing and saying that yes she would in fact like to go find a room upstairs. The boy wrapped his arm around her waist and off they went. Being Kuroko Tetsuya meant that he was witness to this sort of thing very frequently. One time he’d been the only other person in a classroom and watched as a boy asked his girlfriend if she was finally ready to “do it” after school. Neither the boy nor the girl had noticed that the classroom wasn’t empty when they’d snuck in. They also didn’t notice him leaving, although that might’ve been more to the fact that they were kissing like starving lions.

He searched around until he found Himuro and Murasakibara sitting on a chair together.

“Are you leaving soon?”

As always Murasakibara deferred to Himuro who was pressed close into his side with drooping eyes.

“Yeah we could go. What do you think Atsushi?”

Kuroko had never had a drink, but he could tell that Himuro had reached his sleepy stage of drunkenness, which was always preceded by his excited stage.

“Let’s check with Kagami and Aomine,” Murasakibara said.

They found them talking by the dance floor.

“Hey,” Kagami said. Aomine merely looked over before watching the dancers again. Kuroko peered into the crowd already able to guess what was so interesting.

“We’re going home,” Murasakibara said. “What’re you going to do?”

“Kuroko you’re going too?”

Kuroko nodded at Kagami.

“Ok I think – hey Aomine.”

“What?”

“Do you want me to leave the car so that you and Kise can stay later?”

“What?” Aomine said distractedly.

Kagami rolled his eyes. “We’re going to head out, but I’ll leave you the car.”

“We need to say goodbye to Momoi,” Kuroko said.

“Oh yeah,” Himuro said and he let Murasakibara lead him over to Momoi.

After they said goodbye they headed back to where Kagami and Aomine were now talking to Kise. Kise was gesturing and grinning and pointing and Kuroko wasn’t quite sure that he’d ever seen an enthusiastic Kise in front of werewolves before. He felt quite proud that Kise felt safe with Kagami and Aomine. And then Aomine was leading him upstairs. Kuroko didn’t quite understand, what were they going upstairs for? It didn’t seem like they were going to makeout. Kise wouldn’t be ok with that, and Aomine would never suggest it.

“Kagami,” he said as they finally reached him.

“Hey ready?”

“Yeah let’s go,” Himuro answered.

Once they were in the car and driving home Kuroko asked.

“Kagami what were Aomine and Kise going upstairs for?”

“Kise had to use the bathroom.”

“Oh.” Of course.

“Aomine seems to be really smitten,” Himuro said giggling slightly. “He and Kise would be really cute together.”

“What are you talking about?” Kagami said in bewilderment. “Kuroko?” he asked when Himuro didn’t say anything.

“Aomine likes Kise.”

Kagami stared with his mouth hanging open. “But he- WHAT?”

“Shhhhh,” Himuro said. “So loud,” he whined.

“Be quiet,” Murasakibara chastised as one of his hands drifted over to Himuro’s thigh and blackness entered his veins.

“I’m so lucky, I’ll never get a hangover, or have to be the DD,” Himuro said sleepily. “Thank you love.”

“Jesus! Stop trying to make me throw up,” Kagami fake wretched.

“Maybe they’ll end up dating,” Himuro continued.

Kagami looked livid at being ignored by Himuro.

“Aomine will have to be careful,” Kuroko said.

“Yeah like that’ll happen,” Kagami chimed in.

“He better not hurt Kise,” Himuro said.

They talked about it for a little while longer, Kagami and Himuro swapping opinions on whether or not Aomine could be serious enough about something other than basketball, and careful enough for Kise to consider him an option.

“Is Kise even gay?” Murasakibara said.

They all shut up after that and before long they were getting into their beds.

***

Aomine held onto his jacket. He shouldn’t, he definitely should not, he brought it up to his face and inhaled. It smelled better than every member of the pack, smelled better than Christmas. How could someone smell this good? He breathed deeply, slowly, trying to memorize the smell. Part of him was still aware that this was fucking creepy. But there was nothing like Kise’s smell. He felt dazed as he pulled away from the puff of scent. He hadn’t slept. He couldn’t, not when Kise was so close, not when he’d just wanted to keep him warm.

This smell was, Aomine felt his knees give out and he fell onto all fours. What….

What the fuck was wrong with him? His jeans were painfully tight, he needed to be touched. Fuck. FUCK. He undid his fly shakily and closed his fist around his rapidly swelling cock. He could feel his sweat beading on him as he pulled at himself.

It took less than a minute and he was spilling onto his jacket. He was breathing heavily and he could barely keep himself from collapsing on the floor. And then he jolted as he saw what he’d just done.

His jacket was covered in white ribbons. His jacket that smelled like Kise. Kise… he had no self-control and he buried his nose into his own cum, inhaling the new scent of him and Kise mixed together. He couldn’t stop. His dick springing back to life and his hand going down again. His brain was like a broken record repeating _home, home, home._

At 9 he was on his back, his chest heaving and his body spent. Ten times. He’d gotten off to the smell of Kise ten times.

He couldn’t look at the knot that had formed. His brain was gone, and he was lying on the floor next to his messed up jacket. He needed to clean up but he couldn’t look at the evidence of what he’d done. He didn’t understand what had just happened. He’d never knotted before. He’d never felt like this outside of heat…. What was happening to him? And why did his brain keep flashing through the night before.

_Kise was dancing at the party, his hips swaying perfectly to the rhythm, he and Takao jumping up and down with the group of girls, none of them grinding, just having fun, and Aomine couldn’t help but stare. The smell of happy Kise, of carefree Kise was so foreign to him and he’d be damned if anyone approached the blonde to disrupt that._

_Kise was singing in the car, perfectly content, and Aomine was sure that he didn’t know what he was doing._

_Kise was asking Aomine if he wished that he could get drunk, if he’d ever smoked pot, if he was annoyed that Kise was still maybe possibly drunk. Aomine bit his tongue so that he wouldn’t tell Kise that he wouldn’t mind no matter what Kise asked. But then Kise was smelling worried and Aomine realized that he’d been silent for too long. “You’re not annoying me.” And Kise smelled happier again._

_Kise was asleep and Aomine wanted to wrap his arms around him and keep him warm, but he knew that he couldn’t so he got up and carefully went outside of the car so as to hold himself back._

And Aomine couldn’t do anything but lay there half naked and confused.

***

Akashi was training in the pack gym when he smelled it. A faint smell of heat. He sniffed the air carefully and closed his eyes – Daiki.

When he reached Aomine’s door the Alpha was standing outside.

“I thought that I’d let you handle this one,” she said. “Wait till he’s finished.”

Akashi nodded.

A little after nine he spoke, the Alpha already back downstairs. “Daiki, open the door.”

There was a long pause and then a click and Akashi was granted access. The room stank of Aomine and if he focused he could smell a sweet but faint smell that he knew belonged to Kise.

Aomine was wearing shorts, and looking dazed and confused. Akashi quickly scanned the room, he saw the jacket, and knowing that the others had gone out the night before, and smelling Kise’s scent coming off of the jacket he could guess that Aomine had lent it to Kise.

“Did you do anything to him?”

Aomine just swayed. Akashi could feel rage at the possibility that Aomine had hurt someone. That was not acceptable behavior, not from someone in his pack not from anyone ever. “Answer me,” he growled.

“I didn’t.”

Akashi sighed in relief. The idea that someone had gotten hurt was terrifying, even to him. To know that he would be responsible, that he hadn’t helped when he should have was equally disturbing. But Aomine said that he hadn’t done anything. Akashi hadn’t been too late. But he needed to be more proactive, the fact that Kise had accepted Aomine’s coat meant that they were closer than Akashi had thought. And it wasn’t like Akashi to be wrong about things. He needed to know how close they were and how in control Aomine was.

He squared his shoulders and watched Aomine closely as he said, “You should shower and change, I’m going to wash this,” he nodded towards the jacket.

“Ok,” Aomine said.

“I’ll come back after you’ve changed.”

He took the jacket, bagged it, and left to put it in the wash. At least Aomine realized that something was wrong, and even if he didn’t understand – a part of Aomine knew that what had just happened was dangerous. That Kise’s scent had intoxicated him and that he needed to calm down. Of course Akashi could guess what was going on, but maybe Aomine actually was that dumb that he had no idea.

***

“Well done,” the Alpha said as he exited.

“I should have noticed how far it had gone.”

“Seijuurou listen to me carefully. You are responsible, but not everything is your fault. You lead a pack, that doesn’t mean that you control them, there’s a difference.”

Akashi nodded and went to the laundry room.

When he got back Aomine was sitting on his bed, his expression slightly cleared.

Akashi took the desk chair and pulled it up so that it was like a sick person and a visitor.

“Daiki do you know what happened?”

Aomine told him everything. About the night about the jacket, how he had tried not to, but when he smelled their scents mixed he lost control. About what he’d thought of during and after.

“Akashi I’m… sca-” Aomine stopped, his fists clenched in his bed covers. Akashi was sure that he’d never hear Aomine admit to being scared, even at a moment like this.

“I think that you should stay home this week. It’s possible that your heat will come early. And we need to keep you away from Kise. If you want I will stay as well.”

Aomine shook his head.

“I can stay by myself.”

“Alright I’ll talk to the Alpha. Get some rest and you must MUST stay in control of your wolf.”

Akashi exited and went to go talk to the Alpha. Sometimes Akashi wondered what it would be like to be like the others. To worry about friends, and dating and whatever else it was that most people his age were obsessing over. It sounded mundane, trivial. They ran around in circles never getting what they wanted. It was pitiful really and yet they kept doing it. Akashi was perfectly aware that they had something that he didn’t – friends. Being an alpha meant that there was no one equal to you, you were destined to lead, destined to be set apart. He could never fully be friends with them, because at the end of the day he was the one who would have to make the hard choices.

But it wasn’t bad, he respected the power that had been given to him, the mantle that he’d have to take up, and through it all he felt something growing, like a distant train coming closer.

All alphas had mates. And whether by fate or design an alpha’s mate was always pulled to them. Akashi had never felt his mate, but now he felt something on the wind. He felt: purpose. But that purpose wasn’t his. It was his mate’s and Akashi knew that his mate was coming for him.

_“When you meet them you’ll realize that there was a part of you that you didn’t know was missing,” the alpha said._

_Akashi stared at her. “I thought that we were supposed to feel an emptiness if we had a mate.”_

_“Everything is different for us Seijuurou. Your mate will make you more than you are, but alphas are already whole, even if our mates die before they find us we won’t feel like we’re missing something. But I can tell you that I was never truly happy until Ed found me. I think you understand already what I mean. For alphas so much of our emotions are static, they have to be, but there is a whole spectrum of color that we don’t feel we’re missing. And that is what a mate gives you.”_

Akashi couldn’t predict what it would be like. In some ways he felt comfortable as he was, and having a mate just didn’t quite make sense to him. But his alpha said that that was how it was. That somehow more would be added, even if he didn’t feel like anything was missing.


	11. Sync

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heat strikes and Kise's mind invents a different reality.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shit gets confusing. Enjoy. ( •̀ω•́ )σ

Kise woke up two minutes before his alarm on Monday. His bed was so fluffy, he closed his eyes and burrowed. He had friends. Real friends at his school, and with that happy thought in mind Kise got ready and headed out the door. When he got to school he saw Kuroko standing by his locker. He whipped around to look down the other hall, but Aomine and Kagami weren’t there, which is what made him realize that Kuroko never got to school before him. He walked over thinking about why they’d all come early and where the others might be.

“Why’re you so early?”

“I came with Akashi.”

They headed to homeroom and Kise didn’t think anything of the others until he got to the cafeteria for lunch and walked over towards their table before realizing that it was empty. His mind immediately supplied scenarios of the others saying that they weren’t actually his friends. That they’d just been pranking him. That he couldn’t sit with them and that they didn’t really like him and- Kise shook his head. That wasn’t true he told himself firmly, even as a cold tendril of doubt slithered through his chest. He turned to look for them. Maybe they were just running late.

“Kise.”

It was Kuroko.

“Where are the others?”

“They didn’t come today.”

Kise stared at Kuroko. He looked slightly weary, and why was he looking down at the floor.

“Did something happen?”

Kise didn’t know why his heart was beating so fast, but he was half afraid that Kuroko wouldn’t answer.

“It’s difficult to talk about.” Kise had to bend down to hear because Kuroko was talking so quietly. “Could we eat in the hall?”

Kise nodded and followed Kuroko out in a daze after they took their food off their trays to carry it out.

They were sitting in front of their lockers, Kise waiting for Kuroko to say more.

“Did you know that werewolves have heats?”

Kise stopped mid-bite, turning to face Kuroko with lettuce sticking out of his mouth. “Mfo,” he said through the crunch.

Kuroko nodded solemnly.

“Every four months.”

They stared at each other and it clicked. Kise was pretty smart when he paid attention. “They’re in heat.”

Kuroko hesitated and then said, “it’s early.”

Kise didn’t really know about heats so he wasn’t sure what to make of that information.

“Is that bad?”

“It’s just never happened before.”

“Oh, is it like clockwork?”

“It’s like with girls, most packs sync up to each other. Aomine, Kagami and Murasakibara always get it middle of March.”

“Why did it come early?”

“Aomine just- it just happened and the others. Well Akashi says that they were triggered.”

Kise was nodding trying to figure out more. “What about Akashi?”

“Akashi’s Akashi,” Kuroko said simply.

Kise felt like he was still missing something. They ate in silence until Kise realized what it was.

“What about Himuro?”

Kuroko was watching him again.

“Himuro is Murasakibara’s mate.”

That didn’t explain anything, but Kuroko didn’t seem to get the hint that he needed to expound upon his statement. Kise gestured awkwardly. “So he also has a uh a heat?” as soon as he said it he felt like an idiot.

“No.”

“Oh.”

“But he has to stay with Murasakibara. To help him through.”

Help him…. Oh. Kise turned back to his salad blushing. “So they have sex?” he asked casually.

“Yes,” Kuroko said mildly.

Kise couldn’t stay calm after all. “And the parents are ok with that?!?!!?”

Kuroko didn’t even look startled. “They’re bonded for life, it’s quite typical for werewolves, Himuro and I understand this.”

Hmmm well if he said it was ok….

The rest of the day went pretty smoothly. Kise didn’t ask anymore about the others, but he did worry. Especially about Aomine. And then he remembered that he had his number. But he didn’t know what to text him. He thought about it on the bus on the way home and finally after dinner he sent a simple message.

 

To: Aomine Daiki

Aomine, I heard from Kuroko that you have to stay home. I hope that you’re ok.

 

Kise stared at it. Ok nothing weird; it was fine. Just a friendly text to show that he cared. That he had noticed and whatever else.

Kise sent the text and quickly shoved his phone in the nightstand drawer and shut his eyes. Hopefully Aomine wouldn’t think that he was weird. He felt a slight pain in his stomach as he realized that he hadn’t thought to text the others. But that might be even weirder. He groaned.

It must suck to miss school three times a year. And all werewolves had to miss it. And of course school wouldn’t stop for them. It was the first time that Kise felt like maybe the system wasn’t being fair. They should at least get a pardon from homework he thought furiously. Maybe they did. He could ask Akashi or- Kise bolted up: Kasamatsu. Kasamatsu must have heats too. He’d never mentioned it. Well duh how could he have. But… maybe all those times that Kasamatsu had said that he was sick and out of school for a week.

Werewolves didn’t get sick. Kasamatsu had been in heat. Kise felt himself flush as he realized that through all of those heats Kasamatsu had liked Kise. What if he had- Kise took a deep breath, this was not something that he should think about. Kasamatsu had always considered Kise’s feelings first, Kise should do the same for him. So instead of going down that treacherous thought path Kise pulled out his history textbook and forced himself to focus on his homework.

***

On Tuesday Kise asked Kuroko at lunch out by their lockers. There were only fifteen minutes left before class and Kise had been debating whether or not to ask. Finally he threw caution to the wind and asked him.

“What about unmated wolves?”

“What?”

“For heats.”

“They usually pair up for heats.”

“But Kasamatsu,” he stopped suddenly. He shouldn’t be mentioning that to Kuroko.

“He didn't?”

“Well I don’t know. We never talked about it.”

“Kise I think that he must’ve been with one of his pack mates for heats.”

Kise didn’t know why that scared him. The idea of Kasamatsu having sex in general was just too huge to understand. But that he’d have it with someone he didn’t love because he and Kise weren’t actually mates made Kise so sad. He sent a little prayer to the powers that be that Kasamatsu would find his mate and be happy.

Strange though. Werewolves paired up.

And then he remembered Aomine. Aomine and- he jolted again: Aomine and Kagami. He felt something clench in his stomach.

“Aomine and Kagami,” he said in slight desperation. Hoping that he was wrong like he usually was about werewolf things.

Kuroko didn’t answer. Kise felt his heartbeat stutter.

“They pair off with each other?”

“Well they’re close in age.”

He couldn’t think, he couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t breatheeeeeeee

“Kise? Kise.”

He felt hands holding his face.

“Breathe.”

Blue eyes. Light blue eyes. He tried to breathe but couldn’t. His eyes squeezing shut and then flicking open to see dark blue eyes. Kise felt his breath stuttering all over again and then the light blue eyes were there again. He wasn’t seeing straight he wasn’t-

Kise was gasping. Kuroko crouching in front of him.

“Tetsuya please allow me.”

Kuroko moved aside and Akashi bent down.

“Kise I need you to breathe for me.”

Kise was shuddering and Akashi held his head up. “In now.”

For five minutes Akashi guided Kise back to reality. And then Kise felt himself being carried to the nurse’s office.

Akashi went back to find Kuroko waiting for him.

“You told him about Aomine and Kagami’s arrangement?”

“Yes.”

Akashi considered him for a moment.

“How bold of you.”

“He needed to know. If I hadn’t told him he would’ve found out another way.”

“I agree, but it’s quite pitiful to watch him fall apart like that.”

“It’s like how Murasakibara was about Himuro.”

Akashi smirked. “How perceptive of you. But perhaps you should keep that insight to yourself around the others.”

Kuroko nodded. “Akashi, Aomine won’t figure it out on his own. It will hurt Kise.”

“Yes, but we can’t do everything for him. Kise’s not weak right?”

“Right.”

“Come on we need to get to class.”

***

Tuesday night Kise couldn’t sleep. Kagami and Aomine had sex. They had heat driven sex. Werewolf sex. He’d seen Twilight, he knew what super strength sex meant. Tearing each other’s clothes off. Clawing and biting. They were probably doing it right now and he was mortified to find that he had tears welling up in his eyes. They were having sex. Aomine was with Kagami not with him.

Kise jumped out of bed feeling panicked. He hadn’t meant that. He didn’t want to be the one. He shuddered and hurried to the bathroom. He felt sick, but couldn’t throw up. He wasn’t gay. He didn’t want to have sex with a boy, no he didn’t. He’d just been thinking crazy things. He shivered.

_“Ryou-ta. Ryou-ta you have beautiful skin. I could just strip it off. You’re such a slut. So afraid. What’re you scared of? Scared of how much you want my dick? Werewolves are bigger than humans Ryouta. But of course you know that. You’d love a werewolf cock wouldn’t you? Love to have it deep inside your sluthole.”_

_“No.”_

_“No?”_

Kise was crying on the bathroom floor.

_“I don’t- I don’t like boys.”_

_Mibuchi shoved him against the wall. “Yes you do. It’s your filthy scent that drew me to you.”_

He rocked back and forth.

_“You made me like this. You’re the reason I’m so strung out. Because you're a whore. Sending out your scent to lure in werewolves. Tell me, have you had sex before? Let other boys fill you up with their seed? Like a bitch in heat?”_

He shoved his fist in his mouth to keep from making noise. He didn’t like boys, he didn’t he didn’t he didn’t. It wasn’t his fault. He hadn’t wanted it. He felt the stab of guilt that always wracked him.

_Mibuchi rubbed against his front. “Getting hard already? You get off on this don’t you? You like being told how much of a greedy cunt you are.”_

No he didn’t and yet… he’d gotten hard when Mibuchi had rubbed against him. He was a bad person.

***

His eyes were puffy. When his parents asked he said that he’d had nightmares (not a full lie) but that he was ok (definitely a lie.) His mom hesitated but he knew that staying at home wouldn’t help so he went to school.

He was in no mood. For anything.

“Kise.”

Kuroko was waiting by their lockers and Kise didn’t even try to hide his post-crying face. Kuroko would know anyway. At least Kuroko didn’t ask.

For the rest of the day he just tried to keep his head down. It was like his old school all over again. Well sans terror of being jumped. And so if he wasn’t watching out for a creeper like Mibuchi then why did he feel so hollow? He had no reason to feel this bad.

At lunch he and Kuroko went to their lockers again. It seemed to be an unspoken agreement that now that the wolves were out they’d avoid the cafeteria.

What was surprising was that Akashi turned up ten minutes in to ask Kise if he was ok after his panic attack. Kise muttered a yes and thanked Akashi for his help.

Kise wondered if Akashi had a heat partner. He couldn’t imagine it.

“What is it?” Akashi said and Kise realized that he’d been staring.

“Nothing,” he said as he quickly started eating.

“I was reading something quite interesting last night,” Akashi said offhandedly. “Apparently there’s an online community that writes werewolf romance novels.”

Kise stared, mouth hanging open. The idea of Akashi reading romance novels was absurd.

“There’s some TV show that they’re based on. It’s called The Were. I’ve never seen it, but some of the writing is quite good, well for the genre that is. It’s surprisingly accurate. I highly recommend it if you’re interested in romance novels.”

Kise couldn’t help turning to Kuroko, because was this guy for real?

“Thank you for the recommendation,” Kuroko said.

Kise just shut up. Who knew, maybe this was a normal conversation for the two of them.

That night Kise looked up The Were. He didn’t want to read any of it, but he wanted to know what sort of romance novel could be so good that even the student council VP would deviate from the straight and narrow for it. He was just researching anyway, no other reason.

There was a lot of writing about someone called Meric. Kise pulled one up. After 10 pages he realized that Meric was actually a couple name for a Miles and an Eric. Miles was a human who had fallen in love with a badass werewolf called Eric. Kise continued on.

Oh my god they were doing dirty things.

He read more. There were comments that people had left. Holy shit how many people read this stuff? At five in the morning Meric was running through the woods away from Eric’s axe murderer cousin Paul and Kise was in near hysterics with fear over their fate as he stared at his phone screen and read.

His alarm went off.

***

Kise felt ill. He hadn’t slept. How the hell had he not slept? And after Monday night when he hadn’t slept well either. He was so pissed at himself. At least he hadn’t been crying half the night, and he hadn’t thought about Aomine and Kagami. They’d probably have some stupid name just like Meric. Like AoKaga or Kagao. Kise grit his teeth. Stupidest couple name ever and actually Kise didn’t even care. He wasn’t even gay so go sleep with whoever you want, he thought as he slammed his locker shut.

On Wednesday night Kise forced himself to avoid the Meric. And he was so exhausted that he didn’t have any trouble falling asleep. On Thursday the wolf pack was still out and by Friday Kise had decided that he didn’t care what any of them did in their free time, because again, he wasn’t gay and so if they were happy together then that was fine by him. It was good in fact. Kagami and Aomine were probably dating. Actually that made a lot of sense. Kagami always went to Aomine’s locker, they had sex together, grew up together, had angsty competitions with one another. It was good that Kise knew now. Because otherwise- well no, otherwise nothing. He just needed to stop thinking.

***

On Friday Akashi was staring at Mr. Mulken with feigned interest. Truthfully he didn’t really learn anything new in school anymore. Maybe it was due to his excessive nighttime reading or his alpha status. He smiled to himself as he considered how strange it was that he was staying in school when he’d had enough credits to graduate since the summer before. He wasn’t really learning anything, but he needed to finish this year. He felt like he was supposed to be here and Akashi never went against that sense of rightness when it hit him. He looked at the blackboard and read the equations. There was a breeze coming in from the window and a slight smell of exhaust wafted in. Smoky and full of garbage, it was growing more pungent. He carefully breathed through his mouth and felt like he had dust in his throat. No one else in the class seemed to smell the strange debris. He stood up and Mr. Mulken looked at him, his eyes going slightly wide.

“Excuse me, I’m not feeling well,” he said. Mr. Mulken gestured to the door with the same look of bewilderment, after all Akashi Seijuurou didn’t get sick. He walked calmly out the door and inhaled. The scent was still there, and there was another sickly sweet smell, a smell that made him clench his jaw. It smelled like… Akashi froze as the word floated to his mind: seduction.

He went straight to the principal’s office to inform him that he needed to leave early, called the alpha to ask her to send someone to get Kuroko, messaged Kuroko, and then drove home alone.

Akashi was very collected when things went wrong. He went straight to the alpha and told her what had happened.

“Do you have any theories?” she asked him. He could tell by her tone that she wasn’t concerned. That must mean that she knows what it is.

“I don’t,” he replied honestly. “Or rather I have no measures by which to eliminate any of the numerous possibilities.”

“This will be part of your training. I invite you to explore these ‘phantom scents’ and let me know when you figure it out.”

Akashi did not enjoy being in the dark, but this was something that would happen in the future, as an alpha it was his job to discover as much as possible and to remain rational when things went wrong. He’d have to do that now as well.

***

Kise was lying in bed on Saturday morning and thinking about how strange the last week had been. He’d gone from being high on life after the party to being sickly confused. He supposed that going to therapy today would be good for him, but he never really enjoyed getting out of bed for it.

He knew that on Monday he’d have to see the wolfpack again and he just didn’t really want to. Seeing Aomine and Kagami together sounded annoying. Well but they were his friends. Was it possible that they weren’t dating? Kise tried to think it through. All the reasons he’d thought of before seemed pretty convincing, even at the party they’d spent all of their time together. And then Aomine had had to babysit Kise… shit. They’d probably wanted to go back together, but Aomine had had to stay for Kise. Kise’d probably annoyed him.

Kise sighed. He needed to figure out what to do.

He got up and stared out the window. They were his friends. Real friends. He needed to support them. They were happy together. And he wanted them to be happy, so why did it hurt so much?

It didn’t matter why, he’d be there for them. He had to be.

***

Kise had given himself a stern be-a-good-friend-talk in the mirror that morning.

At school he looked towards his locker but no one was there. Ok so Kuroko was coming with the others. Good. He put his books away. Strong Kise. Stay strong. Be strong.

“Kise.”

He turned and was surprised to find Kagami and Aomine coming over with Kuroko.

“Morning,” he said smiling and glad to realize that he felt ok. He glanced between Kagami and Aomine, nothing seemed amiss. And as the morning progressed they acted completely normally. Well that made sense, they’d been in this situation for a while by this point.

At lunch he saw Himuro and Murasakibara too. He was just making his way over to the table when he realized how odd it was that he sat between Kagami and Aomine. Actually it was downright uncomfortable now that he knew. He stopped for a second and then sat down next to Himuro instead. Three on one side made more sense anyway. It wasn’t unnoticeable, well hell they sat in the same seats everyday. Of course people would feel strange about the change, but there was no way that Kise could sit between those two now that he knew they were dating. I mean seriously, why had they even had that seating arrangement in the first place.

“Are you all feeling ok now?” Kise asked. Himuro was the quickest to recover from his look of shock when Kise sat next to him.

“Yeah, actually well Kuroko told you?”

“Yeah,” Kise said easily. He could feel Aomine and Kagami’s eyes on him, but he kept looking at Himuro. “I didn’t know about heats, but now I know.”

Himuro smiled. “Yes well actually it ended Thursday night, but it’s good to rest after.”

“That makes sense,” and Kise chanced a smile over at the others. Kagami’s brows were knit in confusion and Aomine was staring at him wide-eyed. Kise would’ve thought it was cute if it weren’t for the fact that he remembered that he shouldn’t be thinking of other people’s boyfriends as cute. He smiled at Aomine. “I’m glad that it wasn’t something serious. I was worried.”

Kise saw Aomine’s adam’s apple move as he swallowed. He looked nervous. Maybe he was afraid that Kise would be angry that he and Kagami were dating, well Kise had yelled about the LGBT Super Squad earlier so it made sense that Aomine would worry.

“Kagami were you able to do the reading for English?” Kise asked, in an attempt to show that he was fine. That he was ok with all this weirdness.

“Uh I don’t really read for English carefully anyway….”

The rest of lunch passed by easily. True Aomine didn’t say anything. But Kagami seemed to relax and by the end of the day Kise felt really good. He felt at peace. Maybe this was how Kasamatsu felt. All the confusion seemed to have settled. He could just be happy for Aomine and not worry about anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was drunk edited. Idk if it makes sense. If it doesn't please tell me in the comments. (I don't get offended when people tell me I'm being barmy so feel free and I'll fix it).  
> I hope that you enjoyed the angst ( ▼▼)┣━━━━━━━━━●)ﾟOﾟ).｡ﾟ
> 
> Also The Were is obvs Teen Wolf and Meric is Sterek just as Miles is Stiles and Eric is Derek (oh and Paul is Peter of course) :P


	12. Mates

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi friends! I'm sorry that this update has taken so freaking long. But here comes the next installment. I've felt for the last few chapters like the story has been dragging. If I'm honest I think that I didn't introduce the plot soon enough (which is also why I've taken out the 'graphic depictions of violence' warning.) SO it's going to get plot heavy soon BUT hopefully it's still good? IDK IDK IDK I'm doing my damnedest but real life has been distracting lol. 
> 
> ALSO Kise thinks quite a bit about Mibuchi in this chapter and he is definitely a self-blamer :( so if that's difficult for you to read I suggest skipping portions of the story. It's not crucial to the plot so don't worry about missing anything! We all need to protect our hearts <3

Kise thought about saying something to Aomine. Something like ‘hey Kuroko told me about you and Kagami. I’m happy for you.’ But that just seemed lame. Besides Aomine probably thought that Kise already knew. So Kise decided to apologize for keeping Aomine out all night after the game. It would probably make things more normal anyhow. Kise went over to Aomine’s locker after school on Monday to wait for him.

He saw Aomine coming down the stairs with a swarm of juniors that Kise recognized from the party.

“Hey, Aomine.”

“Kise, what’s up?” he said in surprise.

“I just wanted you to know that I’m sorry about last weekend.”

Aomine’s brows furrowed. “What?”

Kise plowed on.

“After the party you had to stay and take care of me. You would’ve rather gone home right?”

Aomine made to protest but Kise waved him off. “Really I’m glad that you were there, thanks.”

“Kise it wasn’t a problem.”

Kise smiled at him faintly, Aomine was nice. Kise hadn’t really noticed before.

“Uh well Kuroko told you about Kagami and me and uh the heats and stuff,” Aomine said. He was looking somewhere up and off to Kise’s right, and Kise realized that he was embarrassed. Kise himself was feeling uncomfortable.

“Yeah.”

“It’s not- listen Kise I don’t even remember most of it,” he said now glaring at Kise.

Kise took a step back. “Ok,” he said slowly. Why was Aomine telling him this?

“It’s just I’m not- I don’t- I don’t want to do it with him for four days straight. It’s pretty much torture. My dick will probably just fall off at some point.”

Kise was mortified by his own high-pitched laugh. But he couldn’t even begin to work out what this conversation was.

“I’m just trying to say that it’s not like that,” Aomine finished. And his gaze was so intense that Kise had to force his feet not to move back again. He tried to get his brain to pick up the threads and string them together. _It’s not like that._ Oh. Ohhhhh. Of course. He didn’t want Kise to think that he was only with Kagami for his hot bod and crazy sex. Kise relaxed.

“I get it.”

“You- you do?” Aomine was squinting at him as if half relieved and half suspicious.

“Yes really I get it. Relationships aren’t just about sex.”

“Yeah,” he said and he sounded lighter. “Yeah, exactly. So do you want to go one on one this weekend?” Aomine asked.

“Sure,” Kise said.

He left a few minutes after they had decided to go to a street court on Saturday. True Aomine was extremely odd. But then again it was kind of amazing how much he wanted people to understand that he liked Kagami for Kagami. Kise felt good about the step towards building their friendship.

Kagami and Aomine were attached as ever, going to their lockers together, fighting and bickering too. Although Kise was very fond of them, a small part of him, a part that he shoved to the back of his mind, realized that if Aomine wasn’t dating Kagami, Kise might, might possibly maybe like Aomine.

This caused him to panic at times, because he couldn’t understand whether he’d felt this way before Mibuchi or not. Maybe this was why Mibuchi had treated him how he had. Maybe Kise was in fact a slut. His heart clenched whenever he thought about it. And it was all very confusing because what if instead he was gay because of what Mibuchi had done. What if he’d been straight before? He didn’t know, but maybe it would be ok to talk to his therapist about it. He could figure it out without any pressure. Take his time to know how he felt. But if he did like Aomine, well he thought wryly, then he’d have to deal with liking someone who was dating someone else. Maybe this is how Kasamatsu had felt when he thought that Kise was dating someone: Kise was happy for Aomine and Kagami. Sure he’d freaked out when he first heard, but Aomine seemed to really care about Kagami. And Kise couldn’t compete with years of friendship and sex.

***

Kagami was avoiding Kuroko. This happened every single heat. Kagami and Aomine would hole up for however long and Kuroko would be grateful that his walls were soundproof. But it still felt wrong to know that Kagami was having sex mere feet away from him with someone else.

_Kuroko was around 13 and sitting in the back behind his favorite tree._

_“Tetsuya what are you doing out here?”_

_“Akashi.”_

_“What’s wrong?” Akashi said as he sat down too._

_“Kagami’s heats are coming right? I heard the grownups talking about it.”_

_“Yes.”_

_“They said that he and Aomine should be partners.”_

_Akashi sighed. “Yes.”_

_Kuroko felt a slight sting to his eyes. He would not cry._

_“It’s ok to be upset.”_

_“Heats happen three times a year. I don’t want it to feel like this every time.”_

_“You can probably make it stop hurting.”_

_Kuroko blinked up at him._

_“It’s possible that they will end up dating, it’s not uncommon in packs. And it’s good for pack families to inter-marry. It feels right for werewolves to make the pack-bonds stronger. You need to decide right now that you will be ok no matter what. If Taiga dates Daiki you will stay strong, or if he doesn’t then he might find someone else. You need to not let it effect you.”_

_He pondered it and then nodded. He’d never let it bother him ever again. He’d find a way._

Easier said than done, he thought. And yet he’d never lost it or dissolved into tears since that initial heat. He’d learned young to guard his heart. Otherwise they’d always know what he was thinking.

Akashi had helped him; had told him how to keep his emotions in check. When Murasakibara and Himuro got together he felt a pang of jealousy, but he managed to let it go.

_“Kagami do you have a mate?” Himuro asked curiously about a month after he and Murasakibara had bonded._

_“No, I don’t feel any kind of emptiness at all.”_

Kuroko sometimes pretended when he closed his eyes at night that Kagami was his mate. But he always woke up to a very different reality. And then a few heats ago Kagami started acting weird around him every time that his heat struck. His eyes would bulge when he saw Kuroko and then he’d high tail it into Aomine’s room. After the heats Kagami would avoid looking at Kuroko and he just didn’t understand why. This time especially it pissed him off. Aomine wasn’t avoiding anyone, so why did Kagami have to.

“Kagami do you want to study for English together?”

“I can’t I have to go for a- a run.”

And Kagami bolted out of the den still in his jeans and definitely not in any kind of running attire. Kuroko grit his teeth, but told himself to let it go. If he could handle knowing that Kagami and Aomine had sex then he could handle being ignored.

***

On Thursday night Kuroko was ignoring his homework.

“Hey,” Himuro said as he poked his head into Kuroko’s room after wrapping the door several times. “Want to come over to the dark side? We have food.”

Kuroko followed him back to his room and started in on a bag of chips.

“So I was thinking that there’s a good chance that Kise could be interested in Aomine too,” Himuro said.

Kuroko glanced over at Murasakibara, after all he had been the one to bring up the sexuality question. Murasakibara shrugged.

“They’re hanging out this weekend, and last weekend they spent the whole night together.”

Kuroko knew that Aomine liked Kise, but he wasn’t sure the other way around.

“You’re making that night sound like something that it wasn’t.”

“Still, Kise was totally fine with being alone with Aomine, a werewolf. That’s definitely a good sign.”

“We don’t know if he likes boys.”

“I wonder if there’s some way to find out.”

“You can’t ask him and there’s no other way,” Kuroko said bluntly. Himuro’s face fell and Murasakibara hugged him from the side.

“But they’d be cute together.”

There was a knock on the door.

“Come in.”

In came Kagami. “Hey so I was- oh.”

Kagami looked over to Kuroko, his posture immediately tensing as he did so.

“Kagami close the door,” Himuro said.

Kagami hesitated and Kuroko glared at him.

“We were discussing Kise and Aomine,” Himuro said with renewed excitement.

“Again?”

Himuro nodded.

“Himuro, Aomine doesn't seem to realize that he likes Kise,” Kuroko said.

Kagami closed the door but remained near it. “Kuroko’s right,” he said without looking at him.

“He has to at this point, besides he asked him to go play basketball with him, which is sacred to Aomine.”

“What if he doesn’t realize though….” Kuroko said. Because that could lead to disaster.

“I’m going to ask him about it.” Himuro said. “Even if he denies it he’ll definitely start thinking about it.”

***

Kise had talked to his therapist about his mixed up feelings. Most of their session was spent with her assuring him, once again, that what had happened before was not his fault. Kise had decided that figuring out whether or not he liked boys was what mattered most at this point, and if he did, then he’d think about the ‘why’ later.  

Kise tried not to notice, because he didn’t mean to be so weirdly interested. But now that he was looking for it the signs were everywhere. Aomine and Kagami always swatting at each other, the way they would idly comment on the others actions with complete ease, the openness that they had. They even ate the same way and wore the same shoes. Were couples shoes a thing? Kise would consult Meric, which was quickly becoming an obsession. Somehow reading about how it could be normal made him think that he could maybe have that too. And although he’d never really been interested in romance novels, it was surprisingly comforting to read. Though he tried not to imagine Aomine, it was hard to think of some faceless stranger instead, especially when he was trying to figure out if it was ok or not.

***

On Saturday Aomine came at three to get him. Kise’s parents waved them off and Aomine had that same terrified look on his face that he’d worn the last time that he’d come over. Kise’s dad wasn’t that intimidating, he thought as he watched Aomine fumble through a greeting and promise to get Kise back before curfew.

“Is the heat ok?”

“Yeah,” Kise said as he looked out the car window.

The street court was deserted, well it was a small town.

“First to ten?” Kise asked as they stretched. Aomine nodded and it began. From the moment they started Kise felt complete focus. Aomine was so fast, too fast for Kise. Every time Kise tried to intercept Aomine would glide past him.

“You’re using werewolf smoothness!” Kise cried as he breathed hard, hands on his knees.

“What even is that?”

“You know,” Kise gestured vaguely, “looping around easily, and you’re not even,” heave, “out of breath.”

“I just have good stamina,” Aomine smirked. Kise glared at him.

“One more time!” Kise said.

And so it continued.

“Again,” Kise screeched when they’d hit 28 to 5.

“Aren’t you hungry though?” Aomine asked.

“No,” Kise lied vehemently, his stomach rumbling.

“Well I am.”

Kise glared, but Aomine just sat down and chugged his water. Kise was so going to beat him next time. Just you wait Aominecchi, I’m coming for you, he thought furiously as he acceded defeat and drank from his own water.

“You want to go to Maji?”

“Yeah.”

They got to the front of the line and Aomine did something really weird. He actually

tried to pay for Kise.

“I don’t need a consolation prize,” Kise quipped, he wasn’t that pathetic. “Actually I’ll pay for you,” he said angrily as he smacked Aomine’s hand away. He expected Aomine to protest, but after he’d passed over the bills and turned around Aomine was just standing like a statue.

“What?”

Aomine shook his head and they made their way over to an empty table.

“Thanks,” Aomine said abruptly.

Kise was in the middle of chewing on a fry. He swallowed and watched how intensely Aomine was looking at him. “For what?”

“For paying for me.”

Kise just stared.

“And for today. It- I- well I had a really good time.”

There was something about the way that he said it that made Kise take pause.

“Yeah I had a good time too.”

He watched Aomine for his reaction, trying to figure out if he was missing something.

They stared at each other. Kise didn’t know what to think or what to do. Aomine’s eyes were extremely blue and Kise thought that he was really really-

Dating Kagami.

He looked down, cheeks slightly flushed and feeling slightly bitter. He wasn’t missing anything, Aomine probably just wanted to make sure that Kise knew that he had real friends.

“I’m really grateful,” Kise whispered. His head snapped up. But Aomine seemed to be past words as well. Kise just grabbed his burger again and ate. He didn’t know what had gotten into him. This was Kagami’s boyfriend, what the fuck was he doing. Maybe this hadn’t been a good idea.

Kise didn’t say anything more about it and even though he could tell that Aomine was watching him he stayed firm for the rest of their outing and through the next week.

***

Kise and Kuroko walked into health class last period on Friday to find a giant dong standing on Mr. Grotto’s desk.

Haizaki even tried to leave the class when he saw it, only to be corralled back in by a grave looking Mr. Grotto.

“Today’s class, as your syllabus indicates, is on heats.”

“Like for dogs?” Haizaki said dryly.

“Like for werewolves Mr. Haizaki. Now everyone please look at the board.”

Kise learned a lot: heats came every four months. Packs synced up to each other. Yes they got extensions on homework (Kise asked) but no they didn’t get to not do their homework. Heats started in wolves early teens and went until the mid-thirties. Heats were harder for wolves with mates who hadn’t found their mates yet.

“I have a question,” Takao said.

“Yes.”

“So what about like mated wolves. Is it just a wild sexfest. Are there shooting stars? I mean it’s soulmates right?”

“It’s not quite like that,” Mr. Grotto responded. He looked like he was trying not to laugh. “The difference is that mates can sense each other better. They can pick up their mates scent out of a crowd, tell if they’re in danger, tell exactly how they’re feeling. But, only once they’re bonded.”

“So once they have sex?” Takao asked. Kise was so uncomfortable with this conversation that his notebook squawker population was threatening to spill over onto a new page. Takao, on the other hand, didn’t seem to be embarrassed at all.

“Yes, once they’ve knotted and made the mating mark.”

“What?” Haizaki said, his face draining of color.

“When wolves that intend to bond are together for heats they will form a knot. And in order to complete the bonding process they will bite one another on the juncture of the neck and collarbone. Although that is the same for mates as well as werewolf partners who intend to stay together. Most werewolves are extremely loyal; they’ll bond for life even if they don’t have a ‘soulmate’ they will choose someone to partner with and then they knot and give the mating mark.”

Kise was kind of mortified and tried really hard not to imagine Murasakibara knotting and biting Himuro. But the unbidden thought still crept in.

“So is there any difference between mates and partners in the long run?” Takao asked. He seemed very unimpressed as if he had expected mates to have superpowers.

“Generally no. Other than their fantastic sense of each other which leads to faster healing, faster heats, and a fierce loyalty and ability to sense when they’re in danger, mates and partners end up pretty similar in the end.”

There were a few more questions and then Mr. Grotto told them to break up into groups.

“I don’t want to put a condom on a werewolf dildo,” Takao said folding his arms.

“Mr. Takao this is class you have to,” said Mr. Grotto. “And it’s a model, not a dildo.”

“Nope, I’m not going to, don’t want to… werewolves are for nerds.”

Fortunately Mr. Grotto had gone over to a different group by that point.

“Why not just get it over with?” Kise asked.

“Shin’s not a werewolf so why do I need to practice this?”

Kise blinked processing what that had to mean. “What if in the future you end up dating a-”

Takao held up his hands. “Then I’d practice myself.”

Kuroko finally just grabbed the fake dick and shoved the condom on quickly.

“Kuroko there’s a bubble….”

Kuroko ripped it off and did it again.

“Here,” he said passing it to Kise as a condom flew by and landed in Furihata’s hair.

Takao roared with laughter and Furihata was quaking like a leaf while Haizaki, who had accidentally lost control of the condom, came over to awkwardly dislodge it.

“Haizaki you’re an idiot,” Takao said doubled over in stitches.

Kise took their fake dick and thought to himself that he had come a really long way. Being able to do this after everything that he’d been through at his old school. He carefully took the condom and inched it on.

“That was strangely good,” Kuroko said.

“Ah what the hell give me the werewolf cock!” Takao yelled.

Kise handed it over before spying Mr. Grotto breaking up a sword fight that two other groups were having with their fake ones. Kise heard phrases such as ‘inappropriate use of class time’ and ‘not for fun’ wafting over.

Kise was in a considerably better mood after health class. Not because he felt good about his progress on condom application, but because there was something deeply satisfying about all the flying rubber and how weirdly annoyed Kuroko had seemed as he retried putting the condom on the werewolf dick, which was gigantor.

“I’m never dating a werewolf,” Kise said as they left. “I’m pretty sure that that was the whole point of class today.” He privately knew that he might be thinking this just to reassure himself that he wasn’t actually sad that a certain werewolf was unavailable.

Kuroko nodded solemnly.

“I suppose you could always date a girl werewolf,” said a sly voice from behind them.

Kise turned to see Haizaki smirking at him, and Kise’s cheeks heated up. “Yeah I- I suppose that’s true.”

Haizaki just laughed before leaving.

“No werewolf dick for me!” Takao said gleefully, “gotta go find ma bae. Ttyl asshats.”

“He looks way too happy,” Kise said as he and Kuroko stopped to watch Takao go. “What about you Furi? Would you ever?”

Furihata was shaking.

“Woah, are you ok?” Kise said as he bent down to look at Furihata’s face. “Do you want to go to the nurse’s?”

“No. I’m ok, I need to get home.”

“Me too, tonight’s the full moon after all,” Kuroko commented as they watched Furihata walk away like a baby deer.

“Maybe that class wasn’t as fun as I’d thought,” Kise sighed.

Kuroko didn’t say anything. “Kuroko?”

Kuroko was looking down the hall and he looked kind of angry, in a Kuroko-ish way. Kise looked up to where Aomine and Kagami were coming out of their own classes.

“Um, is everything ok?” Kise asked Kuroko.

“Fine. All fine.”

Kise shut his mouth. The moment that Kagami and Aomine noticed them was a tense one. Kagami just stared until Aomine smacked his arm and walked over.

“Hey, how was class?”

“We put condoms on werewolf dicks,” Kuroko said placidly as he blinked at nothing in particular.

Kagami started coughing on what Kise assumed was also nothing in particular.

“Wow… that sounds really…” Aomine started, but however it sounded Aomine didn’t seem to actually know, his eyes darted between Kuroko and Kise.

When Aomine looked at Kise he found his cheeks heating up again, their eyes seemed to lock for just slightly too long before Kise looked down at his feet.

“Yeah so lockers,” Aomine said.

“Right behind you,” Kise said as he pushed forward not wanting to draw out the awkwardness for any longer.

***

Akashi was in the woods, it was freezing, but there was a small fire that a pair of werewolves were sitting next to. He moved closer, but the figures were shadowy. Words were drifting back – _you can – concentrate – and breathe –_ and he could see the fullmoon shining bright overhead.

“I feel it,” Akashi’s eyes snapped open. He grabbed his jacket and, unsure how he knew where to go, he sped off letting his senses guide him to the place he’d just visited in his dreams.

He arrived at nightfall; the remains of a fire were there, smoke still softly wafting from the embers. He bent close and sniffed. It had been a few hours since the wolves here had left. And he smelled something faint like wet stone. He breathed deeply, letting it fill him. And finally he opened his eyes in a slight daze. He’d never smelled anything quite like it and it felt like it was his own scent. He pulled out his phone to check exactly where he was, a good 500 miles south. And then he smelled it again, some kind of pollutant on the wind. He instinctively turned towards it. His nose telling him that that scent was his, that he needed it. He took a shallow breath and froze when he heard the quiet whooshing noise of something flying through the air. He ducked just in time as something soared overhead. All dazedness was wiped away as he turned around zeroing in on the small projectile. He yanked the small dart out of the tree where it had landed and bolted stowing the dart in his zipper pocket.

100 miles north again and he stopped. He sniffed, he hadn’t been followed. He hauled out the dart and examined it. Sleek and clear, a yellow liquid inside and a sharp needle at the end. This was medical grade. He needed to get to his pack immediately. To make sure that they were safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, let me know if things don't make sense! Or any other thoughts that you have :) Thanks for sticking with me for this wild ride!


	13. A Day in the Life: Featuring Himuro Tatsuya

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is almost all Himuro. I hope that you enjoy seeing a little bit more of his and Murasakibara's life :) 
> 
> Just some quick notes:  
> 1) Kagami's mama is the alpha and her mate is named Ed.  
> 2) This is set on Friday – so the night before Akashi wakes up and runs off. In the timeline Akashi is there for the full moon and then goes to sleep along with the rest of the pack once the moon disappears. At this point Akashi has the dream and he runs south on SATURDAY.  
> 3) Murasakibara's family is the same as in canon: three older brothers and one older sister  
> 4) Himuro's mother has passed away. I decided that divorce would just not be possible in the pack universe that I have created and thus I decided that Himuro and his father move to America because Himuro's dad is given a job / a place in their pack by ED (an old business colleague and Kagami's father).

“We’re home!” Himuro yelled when he and Murasakibara got in after school.

“Hey,” came a yell from the kitchen.

They walked in to find Murasakibara’s second-oldest brother, Aito hauling out a bunch of pots and pans. “We’re about to start dinner.”

Murasakibara sniffed at the air.

“I haven’t started yet,” Aito said as he gave a tiny smile.

The kitchen was glorious. It had huge windows and a wrap around island that sat six people. There was also a long window bench that covered a wall and a half with the breakfast table. Himuro glanced over at the schedule, Aito was supposed to cook today along with Riko’s mom.

“She’s grabbing some stuff from the pantry,” Aito said in answer to Himuro’s unspoken question.

“Ah ok, is Riko out back?”

“Yeah,” Aito said as he pulled food out of the fridge.

Himuro and Murasakibara made their way outside. It was a full moon night, which meant that they were all on duty.

“And don’t forget the extra water cooler in the main garage,” Riko was saying to Murasakibara’s sister Aya.

“Got it, I’ll meet you up there.” Aya turned around smiling brightly. “Baby brother!” she gushed when they came over.

“Aya,” Murasakibara said and they hugged. Aya lifting him off the ground easily, even with the foot and a half height difference. Himuro kind of liked this werewolf super strength when things like this were possible.

“And Tatsuya,” she said hugging him too.

“Do you need help?” Himuro asked looking between Aya and Riko.

“I’m going to set up the start area,” Aya said. “Riko should they go do the stakes for the trail?”

“Yeah, they’re in the garage too,” she said. “And Tatsuya, you and Tetsuya want to come down with me at 8:00 to the start area?”

“Ah I think I’m going to wait to go with Atsushi, but Tetsuya might go?”

“Ok I’ll ask him.”

The rest of the evening was spent with Himuro and Murasakibara going along the trail and putting up stakes with little flags to help guide the wolves to an open field where the moon would be clearly visible.

When they made it back to the house dinner was underway. People coming in and out, grabbing food, running around to prepare.

“Has anyone seen Alan?”

“He’s in his room,” Kagami’s mother said as she glided in and smacked her son on the side of head. Kagami squealed.

“I’ll- I’ll go check on him,” Kagami said as he excused himself from the table. Himuro tapped Murasakibara lightly and followed so that the three of them could go over to the kid’s wing – which was just off of their parent’s rooms.

Kagami rang the bell for Alan’s room. There was no response. Kagami pressed the intercom.

“Alan it’s Taiga, I’m coming in ok?”

He carefully opened the door, Himuro and Murasakibara coming to stand in the doorway.

There was a quaking lump in the center of the bed, a blanket thrown over it.

“Alan?” Kagami said as he crouched down by the lump. “It’s ok.”

They waited and finally a tiny nose peeked out from the blanket. He looked just like his sister Alex. Only much tinier.

From where they were standing they couldn’t see his face, but Himuro was sure that he was crying.

“It’s almost time,” Kagami said.

“I don’t want to,” Alan said.

“Why?”

There was silence.

“You don’t have to be afraid. We’re all going to be there. You’re mom and dad, the pack, the alpha… nothing bad will happen.”

The blanket shook slightly and then they could hear the tiny voice shuddering out. “I didn’t mean to claw her I was just so happy and I’m always happy at the full moon and what if this time when I’m happy I hurt someone else and I don’t-”

On and on it went. The panic, the fear. This was why the young ones had to stay on the compound. Sometimes they clawed each other. Actually it was quite common, most of them took it in their stride, but Alan had a guilt complex. Himuro listened and understood that he’d accidentally wolfed out on one of the other wolf kids earlier in the week.

“I’m a bad wolf,” Alan finally squeaked, crying harder than ever.

Himuro checked his watch, they didn’t have a lot of time.

“You’re not a bad wolf,” Himuro said.

He saw the lump flinch and Himuro was sure that he hadn’t sensed the other two in the room. Maybe he’d flinched being because Himuro was human.

“Taiga how many people have you clawed.”

“Atsushi once, worst day of my life – he clawed me right back – Alex a few times, uh Aomine a lot.”

“See?” Himuro said quietly, “and Taiga isn’t a bad wolf. Everyone goes through this stage, but you know what? You can all heal really fast so it’s ok. You didn’t actually hurt anyone so it’s ok. And tonight it’ll be ok too.”

After some more coaxing, Himuro thought that it was safe to go so he walked out of the room with Murasakibara first. Alan hadn’t been entirely wrong in his fears. Most of the human pack members had to steer clear of the youngins just in case, even though their instincts kept them in check. But on the full moon sometimes the tiny wolves got confused about who was pack and who wasn’t, so the humans were always with an adult wolf just in case.

***

Himuro found himself waiting at the start where Akashi would stand guard over all the humans in case any of the youngins got turned around. The alpha called everyone to attention and Murasakibara nuzzled into Himuro’s neck once before going out to join the others. Kuroko was sitting next to him in the nest that they always built for themselves, snacks piled around and homework spread out around a bonfire – not that they’d do any of it.

There were a few other human pack members – Riko, Kuroko’s uncle Albert, one of Murasakibara’s brothers, and Alex and Alan’s cousin Elle who was off at college. The human pack members always waited with Akashi at the start until the time came and then Himuro watched as like a ripple it happened. The moonlight falling, the bodies shifting, hair growing, until half men half wolves stood before them. He could see Murasakibara and two of his three brothers, as well as his sister and parents. Their fur had a distinctive lavender sheen to it that always filled Himuro with a warm feeling in his stomach.

If his father hadn’t come to live here because Ed had had a business proposition for him, then Himuro never would’ve met the Murasakibara’s, would’ve never met Atsushi, would’ve never-

And then the first howl sounded. The other wolves joined in with their alpha and then they were off.

He watched the rustling trees as they whipped out of sight until there was a loud slurp next to him. Kuroko was staring at his milkshake. Himuro bumped their shoulders together.

“You been doing ok?”

Kuroko stared up at him blankly. Himuro knew that Kuroko was pissed off at Kagami for ignoring him. He wanted to tell Kuroko that Kagami was just too dense, that he was being silly, that Kuroko should just move on. But he couldn’t. He made a mental note to talk to Kagami. He huffed, Aomine and Kagami both were just so ridiculous. How they expected people to know what they were thinking Himuro would never understand.

Murasakibara had always been blunt with him. He understood that Himuro wasn’t superhuman, that sometimes he needed more than just a scent to know what Murasakibara was feeling. Murasakibara was incredible like that. So in tune with Himuro – since the beginning in fact.

_It was hot. Too hot and why did the ground look so close and his eyes hurt, what was that sticky feeling? He might pass out, he was definitely not-_

_Arms were hoisting him up, and the breeze was strong all of a sudden – whipping his hair out of his face, and cooling him down. And he felt safe and comfortable and his head wasn’t hurting so much, and the ground was gone, something cradling him. He blinked his eyes. Murasakibara was looking down at him and Himuro carefully slid out of his arms. They were outside of the house and he didn’t feel sick at all. No overheating or anything. He stared up and Murasakibara patted his shoulder. Himuro wasn’t quite sure why he’d thought that he’d been sick. He felt fine now. It wasn’t possible that just being near Murasakibara had made him feel unsick right? Like a placebo? He wasn’t sure, but he definitely felt fine now that Murasakibara was staring at him and he was staring at Murasakibara and –_

_“My my Tatsuya are you alright?”_

_Himuro turned to see Murasakibara’s mother coming out to them a glisten in her eyes, her husband walking behind her looking mildly surprised. He could see uncle Albert looking between them all with wide eyes as if something incredible had just happened._

_“I’m fine,” Himuro said in a bit of a daze, still trying to figure out exactly how he’d gotten better so fast._

_“Atsushi, let’s head in,” Murasakibara’s father said. Himuro watched them go feeling a slight pang at the sight of Murasakibara’s back._

_“Sweetie you seem a little tired, why don’t I bring you up to your room.”_

_Himuro let himself be brought up to the 4 th floor: he and Kuroko were up on a floor alone – the other kids being told that they could join them once they’d finished growing. Himuro wanted to be on the same floor as the others, but he knew that they couldn’t join him and Kuroko yet. They were too young, too out of control. He sat on his bed, did some homework, stopped doing homework and then just stared out of the window and wondered where Murasakibara was. The bell on his door rang and he went over to look through the peephole. Murasakibara was standing there with his mother. Himuro opened the door and looked between them. Murasakibara wasn’t supposed to be on his floor. _

_“Atsushi has something that he needs to talk to you about.”_

_She smiled softly as Murasakibara went in. It was confusing, she was just letting them hang out ALONE, a werewolf and a human. It was not allowed, but she was closing the door. Himuro wasn’t scared, but all of the safety precautions that they had said that this wasn’t allowed until they were older._

_Himuro could see that Murasakibara was nervous, which only made him nervous which made Murasakibara come over and hold his hand. Himuro stared down as he inter-laced his fingers with Murasakibara._

_“I healed you,” Murasakibara said. Himuro felt stupid as he blinked confusedly._

_“But you’re not an alpha,” he finally said._

_Murasakibara just stared at him._

_“You mean you took my pain away,” Himuro said. They’d been told that the werewolves could do that even for human pack members._

_Murasakibara shook his head and Himuro felt his pulse start to race. He’d heard of humans and werewolves being mates – but weren’t those just stories?_

_“Atsushi?”_

_“I like Tatsuya the best.”_

_Himuro’s face was on fire. “What?”_

_“I like you the best out of everyone. You’re my favorite.”_

_Himuro blinked and then laughed. Murasakibara’s features darkened for a minute. But Himuro just leaned closer._

_“You’re my favorite too.” And he scooted closer, blinking up at Murasakibara. He wrapped his arms around the giant and slowly hugged. He felt warm arms encircle him and he felt so warm and happy._

_“I love you,” he whispered. He felt Murasakibara grip him a little tighter. The perfect amount of tight. The ‘I love you’ amount. And he realized that Murasakibara was perfect for him like he’d always suspected that he might be. That Murasakibara could be left alone with him and that he’d never lose control of his wolf._

_He felt Murasakibara sniffing at his neck._

_“Mates,” Murasakibara whispered before moving up to nuzzle into his hair._

_They walked out hand in hand to find Himuro’s father and Murasakibara’s parents standing there._

_“Dad? You came back from work?”_

_“It’s time to celebrate,” he said. Murasakibara let go of Himuro and Himuro let himself be pulled into a hug by his father._

_“Your mom would be proud,” he whispered and Himuro nodded against his neck._

_When he pulled away the others were looking at him._

After that he remembered being dog-piled by Murasakibara’s siblings while their dad barked at them to get off. Himuro had just laughed while Murasakibara gave his brothers and sister a murderous look.

_“Atsushi I think it’s time that you moved up to the 4 th floor.”_

_Himuro stared at his dad who nodded his approval._

_“Atsushi will be able to control his wolf now.”_

_Himuro didn’t understand._

_“Being accepted by a mate is a powerful thing,” Murasakibara’s father said. “He can control it because of you,” he said sagely._

_Himuro looked up at Murasakibara who was staring at him._

_“Ok,” he said._

Murasakibara had his own unused-room on the 4th floor that the parents had reserved for him, just like how Aomine and Kagami had rooms waiting for them, but as they set up the room Himuro saw Murasakibara sniffing around Himuro’s room. The parents had had a long discussion about it. Usually mates didn’t find each other so fast, so it was hard to know what to do. In the end they had dragged all of Himuro’s stuff into Murasakibara’s room, which then turned into ‘their room.’ They’d talked to the alpha. As young mates they’d need to be together during Murasakibara’s heats, but making sure that Himuro felt safe was their top priority. He knew that he wasn’t supposed to feel the mate connection, but he couldn't imagine Murasakibara feeling any more connected to Himuro than Himuro felt to him. “If I tell you to stop, you’ll stop.” Himuro had said in front of the adults. Murasakibara had said ‘yes’ right away and that was that. No fear, no worry. The alpha herself explained heats to them and how to make sure that Murasakibara didn’t hurt Himuro. It would be confusing and difficult she said, but they’d be ok. Murasakibara just needed to be able to smell and feel Himuro near him, they didn’t actually have to do anything. (That being said Himuro recalled with a faint blush how much closer they’d gotten than they strictly ‘had to’ in order to trick Murasakibara’s wolf into satisfaction.)

Himuro was lucky. He had it so easy and he was so thankful for that. It was sad to know that it wasn’t that easy for the others. Kuroko liked Kagami who was thick as a rock and didn’t have a mate. So it might not be ok even though Himuro knew that Kagami liked Kuroko too. Either way he couldn’t console his friends through words. It would sound patronizing coming from him. But he could show them that he cared. He hugged Kuroko from the side and asked about his classes. Asked about how things were with Kise, whether or not Kuroko wanted to stick close by for college. Eventually he found himself being lulled to sleep, Kuroko and him burrowing into the blankets that they’d brought along.

***

Himuro woke up to the feel of strong arms around him, he snuggled in, vaguely aware that Murasakibara was carrying him back to the house.

***

Himuro could feel the light slipping in through his blinds. It was so cold these days, but in his room it was warm. His favorite time of the week was this time, when he’d sleepily blink his eyes open and be met with a quaff of purple hair.

“Tatsuya, good morning.”

“Good morning Atsushi. Your hair’s a mess,” Himuro giggled.

Murasakibara huffed and tried to turn the other way, but Himuro held onto his side. Murasakibara could’ve rolled away easily, but he always feigned inability to move whenever Himuro asked him to stay as he was.

Himuro watched as Murasakibara’s eyes drifted over his face and down to his left shoulder. The crook between his neck and his shoulder was bright red – Himuro didn’t need a mirror to know. He shivered as Murasakibara traced his fingers over the bond mark there.

“Yours has already faded,” Himuro said, feeling slightly bitter. Curse Murasakibara’s speeded healing.

Murasakibara just shrugged. “It does on all werewolves, but I still know that it’s there,” he said nonchalantly. “And so does everyone else,” he added quietly.

That was definitely true. Murasakibara wasn’t the only werewolf whose mate couldn’t leave a lasting mark – it wasn’t because Himuro was human. “But I get to see yours,” Murasakibara continued.

Finally they got out of bed, Murasakibara’s nose twitching in interest. Himuro always knew that breakfast was cooking because Murasakibara would get all subtly excited and forget whatever else was going on.

When they left they saw that Kagami’s door was open.

“Food,” Murasakibara said and Himuro held back a snicker. How very wolf-like of him to just follow his nose. Not that Himuro was complaining. He liked knowing when things were cooking too.

Since the time that Murasakibara and Himuro had bonded Aomine and Kagami had also finished their first stage of puberty and moved up to the fourth floor on the east side away from the adults. Himuro’s old room had turned into their den, complete with a mini fridge. They passed the third floor, which had the two classrooms that the little kids used during the day on the east side. And on the west side of the floor was where the parents and cubs slept. Then they passed through the second floor, which mostly had offices for the stay-at-home wolves.

When they made it to the main floor they were able to pass through the huge living room – which took up the entire east side of the house – and went to the kitchen, which occupied the center of the house. And there over one of the two stoves was Riko. Riko was seven years older than Himuro and Murasakibara. She’d gone to college for sports management and now worked in town part time as an assistant basketball coach. The rest of the time she planned pack runs and family events and helped with the cooking.

Maintaining a pack was a lot of work. It’s not like they could have anyone outside of the pack help clean or cook, because of the younger wolves, so every pack had members that stayed home and managed the household affairs. Riko was part of this group. She was mostly in charge of family events. Aito, Murasakibara’s second oldest brother did maintenance on their property and helped with some of the business aspects of maintaining their land. Other than them the others who were ‘pack-parents’ were in the older generation. Taking care of cooking, cleaning, teaching pack members how to control the shift and teaching them school subjects as well. They also had members who worked at home as well as members in high paying jobs in town or in the big city nearby so that they had a means of living. All in all they were a little town in-and-of-themselves.

Himuro, Murasakibara and Kagami all grabbed plates and started heaping food onto them. As always, Murasakibara and Kagami inhaled towers of food. Himuro just liked to be with everyone on Saturday mornings because they were so happy. People came in and out, eating, talking, drinking coffee and stealing each other’s food.

Eventually they made their way back up to their floor and got dressed. Himuro had been thinking a lot about colleges recently. There was something that he’d been thinking about for quite some time. But he didn’t know why he kept coming back to the idea. He knew that Murasakibara could tell, but Himuro would just smile at him whenever Murasakibara gave him his puppy eyes and Murasakibara wouldn’t push it. But now as they walked around the mall, Himuro just felt like he had to ask Murasakibara what he thought. Himuro could no longer not voice his opinion.

“Atsushi….”

They went to a café, and Murasakibara had been patient enough.

“After we graduate, I want to go somewhere.”

Murasakibara tilted his head to the side.

“What I mean is I want to go on a trip. Well I want to go somewhere, just- just the two of us. I want to travel.”

Murasakibara blinked at him. Himuro had no doubt in his mind that Murasakibara was going to become a pack papa, helping with the food mostly, planning holidays with Riko, cleaning. Himuro knew that he wanted that, but Himuro also knew that he’d end up working in town. He couldn’t be with the pack all the time, and he wanted to know what else was ‘out there’ before he settled down. Being mates meant that his whole life was decided for him. And even though it was a life that he knew he’d be proud of, and even though he loved Murasakibara and wanted nothing more than to stay in this pack town with him, he also felt like he wanted to just be a normal couple for once. To just go into the outside world; he wanted to not have to think about the future, but just be young and free and together.

“Ok.”

Murasakibara reached his hand across the table to give Himuro’s a light squeeze. They stared at each other and Himuro knew that Murasakibara wouldn’t be afraid that Himuro just wanted to get out or think that Himuro was thinking something wild. But that maybe it would be good for them to just go explore together.

“Let’s talk to our parents about it,” Murasakibara said.

“Yeah.”

An hour later they were studying at a café and Murasakibara’s phone rang.

“Hello?”

Himuro didn’t think anything of it, he could tell that it was Kuroko on the other end by the light tones that floated out of the receiver.

“When?”

Himuro looked back at his books, but then startled-

“We’re coming.”

Murasakibara seemed worried and so Himuro quickly packed up and followed him out.

***

“How long ago did he get back?” Himuro asked.

“Just before I called,” Kuroko said.

“He seemed,” Kagami shook his head. “Cool.”

Himuro blinked at him.

“I mean like tooooo cool. Like he was all business, called my mom over, said something about a dart, and the moon, some werewolves that he’d tracked, I don’t know.”

Kagami ran his hand through his hair, his eyes flitting over to the bench where Kuroko was sitting before returning to Himuro’s eyes.

***

Akashi was sitting in the main office where they held pack counsels. The alpha was there with Ed. Akashi’s father had also come over to hear what had happened. The rest of the adults were sitting in chairs and listening intently. He told them about the dream of the two wolves, how he’d gone south and found the place where they’d been and then about the scents and the dart.

Harasawa was inspecting the tiny vial.

“I’d like to run some tests,” he said as he held it in gloved hands.

The alpha nodded.

“Seijuurou tell us what you think.”

Akashi stared at the waiting adults and then at his father, who was looking down at the table, before looking back at the alpha.

“In my dream I saw two werewolves sitting by the fire and talking. Even though it was the full moon they had prevented themselves from shifting.”

There was silence around the table at this revelation.

“There are some orders that practice that. Monks mostly,” Ed said.

“Yes but in America?” Murasakibara’s mother asked.

“Did you recognize either of the werewolves?” Aomine’s father asked.

“No, one of them was a man, an old man the other was quite young though.”

He could hear them murmuring, a hushed ‘what the fuck?’ came from Aomine’s dad. And it wasn’t hard to guess why. Someone young shouldn’t be able to do something so difficult as resist the moon.

“What concerns me,” said Himuro’s father, “is what happened after your dream and before you got there.”

Everyone turned to look at him.

“This dart flew out at you, so was the trap laid after they had already left or were they caught unawares and attacked as well?” he finished.

“Hell maybe they’re the ones who shot Seijuurou,” said Aomine’s dad.

“They couldn’t be caught unawares,” said Harasawa. “Wolves with control enough to stop the shift would’ve felt a foreign presence a mile away.”

“Ok so the pair of them are there, then they leave, and then these other trap-setters just happen to come along to the same spot?” Aomine’s dad asked. “Seems pretty impossible.”

“I agree,” said the alpha. “That indeed seems like too much coincidence.”

“But we’re agreed that these two wolves were probably not hit by the dart,” said Aomine’s mother.

“Yes,” answered Harasawa.

“So either they set the trap, or someone else set it after they left.”

“Maybe,” said the alpha. “Harasawa, we need to know what’s in there first. This makes me uneasy. Let’s discuss it again once we have more information. I’d also like to do some research on the area that you were attacked Seijuurou,” she said as she nodded to Aomine’s father. Akashi knew that having members of the pack in the police force was extremely valuable at a time like this. “We need a profile of the sort of person who’d be darting people – and we need to figure out who these men are. And then we can try to see if they match the profile of people who would be trying to dart werewolves.”

“I’ll see what I can dig up,” Aomine’s father said.

After everyone had left the alpha hung behind with Akashi.

“I have to apologize to you. In truth, what we discussed earlier about your phantom scents I thought were exclusively due to your mate, but now I’m less convinced.”

“The young man I saw, there’s something familiar about him.”

The alpha was silent for a moment.

“If you went back could you track him?”

“I’m not sure, that whole area was polluted with some kind of scent to lure wolves into a trap. If I go back I might not be able to distinguish his scent from the other scents.”

“And you’d have to watch out for the same people who attacked you last time, which might in fact be him.”

“I didn’t get a good lock on his scent the first time – I think it isn’t possible.”

Akashi frowned, it wouldn’t surprise him at all if a wolf with that kind of control could avoid Akashi entirely, even if Akashi tracked him. And that was… troubling. What really bothered him though was how unclear the dream had been.

He couldn’t recall the man’s face.

***

Kise was rolling around in bed trying to sleep and trying very desperately not to think about his most recent therapy session and how he may or may not have cried as he confessed that he couldn’t stop thinking about Aomine and how Aomine was dating Kagami.

Kise jumped as his phone bzzd.

 

_Aomine Daiki:_

_1 on 1 tmr?_

He should say no. Fuck no but they were friends so he should say yes. But he didn’t think of Aomine as a friend. Shit he needed to say no and he needed to say yes. He let out a groan and then clapped his hands over his mouth and listened, hoping that he hadn’t woken up his parents. He waited, but didn’t hear anything. He took his phone with his hands slightly shaking and typed out _Ok_. He hit send before he could overthink it and rolled over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if you have any questions! Comments are always welcome, especially if things don't make sense lmk :)  
> And sorry for taking so long with the update -.-


	14. A Stern Talking To

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Himuro makes good on his threats.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Sorry for the long gap between updates ꒰๑˃͈꒳˂͈๑꒱ﾉ*ﾞ̥But chapter 14 is finally finished! After a few chapters of feeling like the story was dragging and not turning out how I wanted it to I feel like I'm finally getting back on track, so hopefully this chapter is up to scratch compared to the last few (｡-人-｡)

“Why are we here?” Aomine said looking warily at the door where Murasakibara was standing menacingly.

“Because I need to talk to you two,” Himuro said.

Aomine and Kagami were both sitting on the bed in Himuro and Murasakibara’s room while Himuro stared them down with slit-like eyes.

“About what?” Kagami asked.

“About what you think you’re doing with Kise and Kuroko.”

Kagami flinched, but Aomine just looked bored.

“You don’t seem worried,” Himuro commented.

“I’m not,” Aomine answered.

“And why is that?”

Aomine glared at Himuro, Himuro glared back, Murasakibara growled. Aomine took one long calculating look towards the door before turning back and Himuro knew that he had him. There was no way that Aomine was leaving until he explained satisfactorily.

“I’m hanging out with Kise. He even bought me dinner last time. And we’re going out today too,” he said smugly.

Himuro mulled this over. “Does he know that you don’t think of him as just a friend?”

“Of course he does,” Aomine said.

Himuro looked skeptical.

“He told me that he had a good time and I told him that I like hanging out with him too or whatever. I read online that you’re supposed to say that you ‘enjoy’ your time together so that’s what I’ll say today. They say that you’re supposed to say it like that.”

Kagami looked like he’d been struck dumb. “You did research?”

“Tch,” he said turning away, although it didn’t completely hide his blush. “It’s important.”

“Maybe you should tell him outright though,” Himuro said. “He might be confused, because you and Kagami spend heats together.”

“No we talked about that too.”

“You did?” Kagami asked.

“Yeah, I told him that I don’t want to see your ugly face anymore than I have to.”

Kagami bristled.

Himuro let them wrestle, shout insults and tear up the room. He was only half listening until they came dangerously close to where he was sitting, at which point Murasakibara lunged and pulled them apart before throwing them back into their spots on the bed, and retreating to man the door again.

“Damn why are you so strong?” Aomine grumbled. “And can I go now? I am fucking perfect and I’ve done everything right.”

“Even though you have I think that you probably haven’t,” Himuro said.

Aomine growled.

“Just, just tell him how you feel ok? Let him think about it.”

“Fine I’ll do that today.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really can I go now?”

Himuro was both surprised and pleased. Well something was going right. But he ignored Aomine’s question and turned towards Kagami. He was going to get to the bottom of this.

“Taiga.”

“What?” Kagami said cowering.

“What’s your plan? Why’re you avoiding Tetsuya?”

“I’m not!”

“HAH!” yelled Aomine. “You avoid him like the plague.”

“Bubonic plague,” Murasakibara said.

Himuro tried not to smile.

“He’s going to get fed up and leave your ass,” Aomine said.

“What?” Kagami said and Himuro was pleased to see that he looked genuinely worried. Good, Himuro thought, a little dose of fear could be productive.

“He’s going to finally realize that you’re as dumb as you look and that you’ll never ask him out.”

“I will too!”

Kagami groaned as he realized what he’d said.

“He said ‘Tetsu’ in the middle of it during our last heat,” Aomine said quickly, and in a horribly high-pitched mockery of Kagami’s voice, as he darted behind Himuro.

“You asshole!” Kagami yelled as he launched himself.

Murasakibara pulled them off of Himuro, for the second time, who had ducked to the ground to get out of the way.

“Don’t,” Murasakibara said angrily and he looked livid. Ok, Aomine thought, maybe he shouldn’t have used the human as a buffer.

“Taiga you’re being a real jerk to Tetsuya,” Himuro said quietly.

“What?”

“You run away from him every time your heat comes.”

There was an awkward silence.

“I- well- I don’t want to ruin anything.”

Himuro stared him down.

“Like what if I jump him? I see him- and my symptoms are starting and he smells so good. Himuro you know how he smells.”

Himuro raised his eyebrows.

“Right ok you don’t but….”

“That’s all fine but after heats you ignore him too.”

“Cause it’s embarrassing,” Kagami said, his cheeks reddening.

Himuro sighed. “Why don’t you explain to him that you’re embarrassed? You don’t have to tell him all the other stuff, but at least stop evading his every attempt to act like you always do.”

Himuro looked over to Aomine, but he seemed to know not to say anything.

“He’d ask questions and I’m just worried. I can’t date him so….”

“Why not?” Himuro said leaning forward.

“I- well I mean- he’s- like my brother,” Kagami finally said.

“Since when has being in the same pack meant that you can’t bond with someone?” Himuro said.

“Yeah but it would feel weird!” Kagami said.

Murasakibara growled and he took a step away from the door, small patches of fur shooting out of his skin.

“Not for you,” Kagami said as he put his hands up quickly.

Aomine rolled his eyes in annoyance, he’d long since realized that they were going to make him stay for the whole conversation. “You either want to fuck him or you don’t. It’s not that hard to figure out. And I think it’s pretty clear which option you’d take,” Aomine said.

“What? Who said anything about sex?” Kagami said looking mortified.

“Just replace the word ‘fucking’ with bonding and Daiki’s point stands true,” Akashi said in amusement.

They all jumped. Akashi had somehow managed to slip into the room catching all but Murasakibara unawares.

“I’d kill him,” Kagami said.

“What?” Himuro asked.

“I- he- he’s human and I’m a werewolf and my dic-,” Kagami was bright red in the face by this point.

“Huh?” Aomine said.

“Taiga thinks that Tetsuya can’t take his knot,” Akashi said.

“What! Are you a fucking idiot? Didn’t you listen in health class?” Aomine yelled. “Just fucking prepare IDIOT.”

Kagami was about to protest when Himuro cut across him looking pissed.

“I can handle Atsushi so I’m sure that Tetsuya could handle you. Besides it’s not like you have a giant shlong – Atsushi is definitely bigger.”

Kagami was speechless, too busy spluttering to actually say something coherent.

“Shit I don’t want to hear about your sex life,” Aomine said. “It’s bad enough that he’s my heat partner,” he said pointing at Kagami. Murasakibara was looking disgustingly smug and Akashi was doing absolutely nothing to help. Kagami did not understand how things had gone so wrong.

“I think Tatsuya is right,” Akashi said. “You should be honest with Tetsuya, about your fears and your feelings.”

“But- well I can’t.”

“Atsushi did, why can’t you?” Himuro asked.

“Well you’re mates, I don’t- I don’t have a mate,” Kagami said miserably.

“That doesn’t matter,” Himuro said and he hurried over to hold Kagami’s shoulders. “As humans we don’t feel the same things that werewolves with mates feel, so we have to just trust ourselves. I had to with Atsushi,” he looked over at Murasakibara with pride before looking back. “And so does Tetsuya, and so do you. Wolves only have one life partner. Don’t you want that to be Tetsuya?”

Kagami was staring down at his hands. “Humans don’t bond for life.”

“They do when they’re part of a pack,” Himuro said and he actually stomped his foot in anger. “We get it. Tetsuya and I get it so just stop thinking that he can’t handle the commitment,” Himuro said. Everyone was stunned into silence by the angry patches of red that had appeared on Himuro’s cheeks. “I’m sorry,” Himuro said and he quickly left the room followed by Murasakibara.

Akashi, Aomine and Kagami just sat there motionless.

“Tatsuya’s right, but ultimately you’re the one who needs to believe that. Come Daiki, let’s go,” Akashi said and they left as well.

 

 

 

 

 

***

“Do you think he’ll talk to him?” Akashi asked.

“Nah he’s an idiot.”

Akashi gave him a long searching look before smirking.

“Hey are you ok?” Aomine said suddenly.

“Would you get your alpha a hot water bottle if I weren’t?”

Aomine scowled. “I just meant after everything that happened yesterday.”

Akashi considered him. How very unlike Aomine to be concerned, but well the whole situation was rather alarming.

“There seems to be something strange going on down south. I have to say the smells were quite distracting, it was almost too late when I grabbed the dart. That sort of lack of focus is… disquieting. That smell….”

Akashi was surprised by the admission, but it was true.

“Like your mate?”

“I sincerely hope that my mate doesn’t smell like seduction.”

“That’s what you smelled?”

“That’s part of it. I think… I think it was synthetic, to lure werewolves, because it smelled wrong. But how did they create it, and why.”

“Who made it?”

“There’s another excellent question, and I couldn’t tell you. Your father is looking into it at the police station, I wonder…. Regardless, good luck with Kise. He seemed quite concerned about you and Kagami sharing a heat. Shook up one might say,” Akashi said before he walked away. “Don’t mess it up,” he called back. He had to go research, because not only was there a projectile targeting werewolves, but there was a smell that could lure werewolves, and not just werewolves, but alphas too. And he couldn’t rest in a world where he was susceptible, or exposed.

And who was that man….

***

Kise looked at himself in the mirror.

“Shit.” What was he doing? He checked his phone and let out a sigh. He’d been changing clothes for almost an hour. When he’d woken up it was raining. Kise had laid in bed feeling bummed, knowing that they’d have to cancel their 1 on 1, but then Aomine had texted to ask if Kise had been to the arcade in town, so they were still on. He stared at his face until he started making weird faces at himself in the mirror and wiggling his ears – a genetic gift from his grandmother. It was at this point that he reached up to his pierced ear. He wondered if it had completely closed at this point or not. Fuck, he went to his closet, pulled out the small pouch that he kept his hoop in and went back to the mirror. Before he could even begin to second-guess himself he put it in, with some difficulty.

When he got downstairs his dad stopped and then gave him a small smile, clapped him on the back and continued out to the garage. Kise was thankful that he hadn’t commented.

He was just grabbing a piece of toast when the doorbell rang. He opened it while hastily swallowing a too-big bite.

“Hi,” he said and felt his cheeks immediately heat up with how breathy his voice sounded.

“Kise,” Aomine said. He was smiling before his eyes widened as he looked past Kise. “Sir,” he said hastily as he retreated a step. “Kise and I- I mean Ryouta and I are just going to go to the arcade and possibly dinner after, or-” he glanced distractedly at Kise before his eyes snapped back to Kise’s dad, “if that’s ok?” he said looking between Kise and his dad.

Kise wasn’t an idiot, Aomine was acting like he was taking a fair maiden out and like he needed permission from her keeper. What he _didn’t_ understand though was _why_ Aomine was acting like such a puffed up punk.

“Well if it’s all right with my son then it’s all right by me.”

Kise was slightly mortified by the smirk on his fathers face; clearly he was enjoying the terrifying effect that he was having on Kise’s friend.

“Yeah it’s fine, let’s just go Aomine.”

Aomine walked stiffly to the car, he seemed to hesitate when he reached it before hurrying over to his side and scuttling inside. Kise shook his head in amusement. Honestly.

“I like your earing,” Aomine said.

“Oh, thanks,” Kise said and the engine roared to life.

***

Kagami poked his head into the den. Kuroko was sitting there hunched over a textbook. Kagami waited, before finally inching his way in and sitting down across from Kuroko.

“Taiga.”

“Hey, uh what homework are you doing?”

Kuroko blinked at him before handing his textbook to Kagami.

“Oh history, cool.”

Kuroko just stared at him. Yep Kagami knew that he sounded like an idiot and when he handed the book back, Kuroko just went back to reading.

Kagami hovered before finally sitting down. Kuroko remained silent. Kagami took his own books out and started reading. He chanced another glance; Kuroko made a note in his textbook. Kagami looked back down and realized that he hadn’t taken in a thing that he’d been reading. He started again. Then he looked back over at Kuroko.

“What is it?” Kuroko said.

Kagami flinched. “Uh… nothing?” he tried.

“You keep looking over here.”

“Do I?”

“Yes.”

Kagami was silent.                  

“It’s hard to do homework when you keep looking over,” Kuroko said.

Kagami felt slightly ashamed. “Sorry.”

Kuroko sighed, closed his book, and stood up. “Well I’m finished,” and he walked out of the den leaving Kagami slightly hurt, but mostly confused. He wanted to call out, to ask where he was going. But had Kuroko really been done with his homework? Or was he just leaving because he didn’t want to be around Kagami. And then his sense of shame doubled. He’d been ignoring Kuroko all this time. This is what that felt like.

He smacked his head into his textbook and groaned, he really was an idiot.

***

Kuroko left Kagami to sit there and think about whatever it was that Kagami thought about. Sighing, Kuroko put his books down on his desk, clutching the hem of his shirt. Kagami’s periods of ignoring him were getting longer. Would a day come when they just blended from one right into another? Would Kagami go off like Kise’s friend to find a mate? Would Kuroko just go to college with other humans and be like Murasakibara’s third oldest brother who never came home anymore? Would he feel this rejection from the pack forever? He opened his laptop to see the list of schools that he’d found on the east coast. If things didn’t change in the next year then maybe it would be better to go out and search for something new. There was a whole world out there, and coming back to a home where Kagami wasn’t his, where Kagami was with someone else, just seemed too sad. But Kuroko had started to wonder if that’s what was happening. Maybe it wasn’t a faze for Kagami. Maybe this was just how it would be from now on. He clenched his fists tighter. If anything he was a fighter and he wouldn’t just leave, not before telling Kagami exactly why. He wouldn’t do that to his pack, even if every part of him felt like he was being rejected. He’d still tell Kagami. How he felt, why he was leaving if that day ever came. He wouldn’t pine forever. He’d be honest and give Kagami a choice even if he knew at this point that Kagami would say no, at least this way Kagami would have to tell him to his face as opposed to just avoiding him.

***

“One more time!” Kise said, as he turned his wallet upside down.

“You really want to lose that badly?”

“Aominecchi I’m going to beat you this time,” Kise said as he smashed the coins into the machine. “What?” he said when Aomine stood silently next to him.

“No you won’t,” he said and he turned grinning towards the screen. Kise would’ve asked what he was laughing about but there was no time, he had to focus.

Kise lost.

“You used werewolf speed.”

“Didn’t,” Aomine said as he cracked his neck. He looked so stupidly pleased.

“I’m going to give you a serum to de-werewolf speed you.”

“What you’re going to drug me?” Aomine said.

“Fine,” Kise snapped as he looked around for a game that they hadn’t played yet, “then I’m going to take steroids and show you that I can win when we’re on an even playing field.”

“It must be hard to admit that I’m so much better than you,” Aomine yawned.

Kise narrowed his eyes. “Claw machine.”

“What?”

“I’m going to beat you at the fucking claw machine!” He heard a slightly terrifying maniacal laugh come out of his mouth as he jetted over to the claw machine. There were big fluffy Olaf’s piled on top of each other.

Aomine hesitated.

“You want a snowman?”

“It doesn’t matter what it is,” Kise said dismissively. “Crap,” he didn’t have any more coins.

“I got it,” Aomine said slipping the coins in before Kise’s protest could leave his throat. “So, every other?”

Kise nodded and squared his shoulders as he walked forward. He could do this, claws were his thing. He took a deep breath and started. The crane moved jerkily and although his timing was good, he just missed Olaf’s arm.

Aomine went. He had Olaf by the neck but the snowman slipped back out. Kise hurried to take the crane. He had his tongue between his teeth as he maneuvered Olaf towards the shoot, but he slipped. Aomine went again and Kise held his breath. But Aomine lost as well. On Kise’s seventh try he got him.

“Hah!” he yelled as he shoved the Olaf at Aomine’s face.

“Wait I still have one more turn,” Aomine said, his eyes blazing as he faced the machine.

When they left they were each clutching a giant Olaf.

“Lucky seven,” Kise said as he squeezed Olaf.

“We look like idiots,” Aomine said as he grit his teeth and tried to ignore the giggling and stares that they were attracting.

“But we tied!” Kise said. It wasn’t winning, but it wasn’t losing. “And now we have Olafs too!” he said happily.

Aomine didn’t say anything. They’d reached the outside of the arcade and Kise peered over his Olaf to make sure that Aomine was listening.

“Are you-”

“Where do you want to eat?” Aomine asked.

“Oh, um I don’t know,” he said, as he tried to look to the side, but Aomine must’ve not realized that he was hiding behind the Olaf so well. Kise frowned slightly oh well.

“What do you want?” Aomine said.

“Well, we have these so….” Kise held up his Olaf to indicate the giant stuffed animals.

“Oh,” Aomine said as if he’d forgotten. “Uh takeout?”

“Ok! Let’s go,” Kise cheered.

They found a pizza place in the mall complex and set their Olaf’s down, Kise started walking towards the line when he noticed that Aomine wasn’t behind him. He scooted back.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, but… you should stay with the Olafs.”

“What?”

“They- well they might get stolen.”

Aomine was scratching the back of his neck in what seemed to be forced nonchalance. And it almost looked like his cheeks were a little flushed. But it was Aomine, and there was nothing for him to be embarrassed about. Kise must just be imagining things.

“I can get the food, while you… keep watch,” Aomine said.

“Ok.”

Kise watched him go, trying to figure out what was making him act so weird. Was he that embarrassed to be seen with the Olafs? I mean sure it was a little strange to see two high school aged boys running around with giant stuffed animals, but still. Or maybe Aomine was actually concerned that they might get stolen.

Aomine returned with two pizza boxes.

“How much do I owe you?”

“It’s fine,” Aomine said. “I’ll end up eating most of it anyway.”

“But still-”

“It’s fine,” Aomine said in an end-of-discussion sort of way. Kise grabbed the Olaf’s and they headed to the car where they stuffed the Olaf’s in the backseat, Kise clipped them in for good measure. Aomine wasn’t opening the boxes.

“Um should we,” Kise gestured at the boxes and Aomine jumped.

“It’s awkward to eat in a mall parking lot, so we should just go somewhere else.”

“Ok,” Kise said.

They were out in the woods and Kise was slightly terrified.

“Why’s your pulse racing?” Aomine asked as he looked Kise up and down swiftly.

“Um well it’s kind of dark and um scary?” Kise said unsurely. Aomine looked around.

“We’re really close to my house so it’s ok. Nothing bad would happen and I’d hear anyone coming.”

Kise nodded and felt slightly less panicked, remembering the last time he and Aomine had been in the woods and how comfortable he’d been.

“Is that ok?”

“Yeah,” Kise said, “Yeah, yes it’s fine. Definitely ok.”

They ate in silence. Kise wasn’t sure what to talk about or how to start or how to feel. Fuck why was he dating Kagami. Well Kagami was really awesome and had an amazing body, that’s why he told himself. But still why couldn’t it be Kise. He looked over to see Aomine staring at him and he jumped.

“What?”

“Kise I really-” Aomine stopped. “Shit,” he said as he turned away.

Kise waited and when Aomine turned back he was staring so hard at Kise that he thought he would surely be set on fire.

“Kise I like hanging out with you. I mean I enjoy our time together.”

“Me too,” he said automatically. Aomine looked like he’d swallowed something sour as he’d said it and Kise wasn’t entirely sure why he looked so bug-eyed.

“And I want to hang out with you more. And do more than just hang out,” Aomine said.

Kise didn’t understand.

“I know that you might not like guys.”

Kise inhaled sharply.

“But please consider me,” Aomine said furiously.

Kise grabbed a napkin on his lap and started to compulsively clean the grease off of his hands. _Please consider me_ he’d said. But that sounded like.

“You’re dating Kagami,” he said accusingly and groaned internally at how dumb he sounded.

“Who’s dating Kagami?” Aomine said looking around.

“You,” Kise laughed out in exasperation.

“No I’m not.”

“What?”

“I’m not dating him. Why the fuck would I date him?” Aomine said and Kise finally believed him because he looked horrified at the mere suggestion.

“You’re not dating… Kagami?”

“NO,” Aomine said.

Kise stared at him. Aomine wasn’t dating Kagami. They weren’t dating. Aomine was single. Aomine was AVAILABLE.

Kise’s gaze slipped down to Aomine’s mouth. He’d imagined Aomine saying that he liked Kise, that he and Kagami weren’t actually together, and that…. Kise looked back up to Aomine’s eyes and he was staring back. Kise found himself leaning forward, his hand finding it’s way to the center console so he could keep moving towards Aomine.

He stopped once they were a few inches apart and then Aomine’s hand was carefully brushing up his arm, over his shoulder, and finally resting on his neck.

“Can I?” Aomine asked.

Kise didn’t say yes, he just leaned forward the rest of the way and lightly touched his lips to Aomine’s. They were slick, probably from all of the grease and Kise smiled as he opened his mouth slightly and tilted his head. Aomine’s hand moved to the back of his neck as he moved his mouth against Kise’s.

It couldn’t have lasted more than a few seconds, but when they both pulled apart Kise was sure that it had been light-years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh look what happened at the end there :P this is like that song in the beginning of High School Musical: Start of Something New :) uh or something :P
> 
> Next chapter will have some more of the #plot and we'll get to hang out with Akashi a bit more there and see how hot- I mean awesome he is (ﾉ^ヮ^)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧


	15. Of Werewolves and Hunters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the most wtf chapter I've ever written.  
> Let's be honest I don't know how to write multiple threads at once.   
> Any advice on how to do that so that it's actually good (as opposed to this garbage heap) would be welcome.   
> I almost feel like I shouldn't even post this.  
> Fuck.

**_Akashi’s Sunday_ **

Akashi was walking down a long corridor when he heard the music start, drifting through the walls from up ahead. It was a calm sound; a quiet sound. He continued down the hall following the music until he heard another sound, a quiet rushing. But the rushing was getting louder and louder, and the walls were turning wet, he bolted towards the music, but the walls were crashing in with the force of the water, and he was being thrown against a hard surface, compression and salty water filling his lungs and the music had distorted to an eerie thing, a haunted melody. “Seijuurou” a voice called out.

Akashi woke up. He was in his bed, and he was dry. He sat up and looked at his clock. 5:00 AM, the time that he always woke up. He got up and went for a run, as he always did. The dream was uncomfortable, but Akashi’s gift was mental strength, he put the dream aside. That was not his reality, he was here, he was strong, he had no fear of drowning or cavings in or music gone wrong.

Breathing, in and out, focused, calm, focused.

By the time that he was back in his room showered and changed, he felt as he always did, unruffled and ready to get work done.

He went to the kitchen, which was empty. He got his coffee, made himself eggs and locked himself in his room, where he proceeded to read the morning paper.

He then did what he’d set out to do, and looked up the towns around where the dart had been.

Four hours later and his whiteboard had a huge map placed in the center, an ‘X’ marking where he’d smelled the smell and an underline under Bakersfield. He’d arranged newspaper clippings, and police reports around it. Red strings going from locations to mysterious occurrences in the surrounding area.

There were werewolves who had woken up in the woods with no recollection of how they’d gotten there, and every incident had been on a full moon. Akashi had, somewhat illegally, gotten the names of several of the werewolves. All boys. All in their teens. There were two packs in the area: Kaijou and Rakuzan. The boys had been from both.

He stepped back and stared at the board. Strange.

After he finished he pulled down his international chess poster to cover the whole thing. Right, he needed to head over to the main pack house to use the alpha’s personal library. Some secrets weren’t littered over the internet.

***

Akashi was only roused from his extreme focus by the sound of Aomine coming home at night and yelling through the house. He just wanted everyone to be quiet so that he could work. But so far he’d only come to one conclusion: the men at the campfire couldn’t have set up the trap. Because no matter how strong-willed they were, how could they have resisted such a seductive scent enough to focus on shooting the dart at other werewolves. Which meant that someone was targeting werewolves. Akashi didn’t like to think why. But he had to consider the possibility that there were active hunters. It was of course illegal, but….

***

It was around nine by the time that they pulled up in front of Kise’s house. They got out of the car, Aomine hovering by the passenger side door as Kise turned back to say goodnight.

“Thanks for today Aominecchi,” he said hugging his Olaf in front of him. “Goodnight!”

Aomine froze stock still as he felt the Olaf press into him, Kise making the twig arms hug Aomine. “Olaf says thank you too, and he wants you to know that I’ll definitely beat you next time.”

Aomine had one arm half raised in confusion as Kise laughed and went up to his front door to let himself in. Aomine was still standing in front of the house for a few seconds after the door had closed behind the blonde. He got in the car, his brain on autopilot as he made his way back to the pack house.

***

“How was it?” His father asked. Kise had the feeling that his parents had been waiting up, seeing as they were both on the couch and turned the TV off as soon as he came in.

“Good, it was really really good.”

“What’d you end up doing?”

“We went to the arcade, and dinner. Aominecchi’s really good at games,” Kise said frowning. “But don’t worry I tied with him on the claw machine hah!” Kise said gleefully.

His dad was raising his eyebrows. It was the face that Kise had associated with him not having anything to say, but feeling like he shouldn’t tell his son that he didn’t really get his interests.

“We’re glad that you had a good time,” his mom said before she kissed him on the cheek.

Kise might be a high schooler but he’d long since learned that just letting it happen quickly was better than throwing up a stink. His mom yawned. “All right I’m off to bed. Night Ryouta.”

“Night mom.”

Kise knew that she was leaving so that his dad could talk to him.

“So Aomine?” His father asked.

“Yeah,” Kise said and his throat was tight as he realized that his father knew. “I- well I think that I-”

Kise wasn’t ready for this; he wasn’t prepared. How do you say to your dad that you like another guy?

“Son, does he make you happy?”

Kise nodded.

“And he treats you well?”

Kise was squeezing Olaf so tightly that he was barely aware of what he was nodding about.

“You seem happy kiddo. Well happier recently.”

A few minutes later found Kise staring at himself in the mirror. He was happy when he was with Aomine. Was this maybe how normal people felt? Just slightly nervous but mostly excited when they thought about the guy they liked? About his face. About his deep blue eyes, his dark hair, and tanned skin, the way he lit up just like Kise on the court or in the arcade or anywhere else. The push to do better?

He traced his fingers over his mouth. Aomine had tasted like pizza, the same as Kise. It didn’t really matter what he tasted like, just that Kise got to kiss him. He sat on the edge of his bed. He’d kissed Aomine. Aomine had kissed him. Aomine liked him. And Kise, Kise liked Aomine. He felt himself heating up as he remembered.

This raised a whole host of questions that Kise, in his blissful surprise, hadn’t stopped to think about. But if they liked each other then didn’t that mean that Aomine would want to date him? Well did Kise want to date Aomine? Unbidden came recollections of Mibuchi. If Kise dated Aomine he’d have to tell him about Mibuchi. And he wasn’t so sure about that. But he couldn’t not date Aomine because of Mibuchi, because that would actually be insane. Shit, how did he do this? He fell back on his bed feeling defeated. He just wanted a normal life. One where he hadn’t been molested by werewolves. He snorted, because it was easier to laugh at how unreal his life was than to think too hard about it. Besides when he thought too hard, he got confused and unhappy. He reminded himself that Mibuchi wasn’t his fault. That he could still date someone normally, and that someone who really liked him wouldn’t stop just because of Mibuchi. He wanted to talk to Aomine more and he scrabbled for his phone. There was already a text waiting there.

 

_Aomine Daiki:_

_thx for today_

Kise’s heart did a weird flip. “Calm down,” he told himself. But he couldn’t help how excited he was. ‘I always have a good time with you.’ Kise typed out. He threw his phone down, then picked it back up, then bit his lip and hit send. Shit sheeeet Aomine was so amazing. Kise didn’t even do it consciously, he just hit the call button. And it rang.

And it rang.

And Kise was starting to get nervous. Was he calling too soon? Had he missed someth-

“Kise!”

Kise sat bolt up, that was definitely Himuro. He heard a loud bang through the line.

“Himuro?”

“Yeah, hey hi, are you ok?”

Kise could hear the distraction in his voice as a yowl came from the other end. Kise blinked rapidly in surprise.

“Yeah, but are you ok?”

“I’m fine it’s – no you can’t do that! Atsushi they’re killing each other. But actually this time,” Himuro yelled.

There was a loud growl and an echoing thud as Kise held the phone away from his ear in horror.

“Seriously stop it,” Himuro was saying.

“No he’s scum. TRASH he’s the WORST,” came Aomine’s voice. “You fucking asshole.”

Kise had no idea what was going on, but his pink bubble had officially popped.

“Hey Kise,” came Himuro’s voice. “Are you sure that you’re ok? Did Aomine do anything weird?”

“Give me the fucking phone,” came Aomine’s voice.

And then it was right in Kise’s ear. “Hey, Kise, hey.”

Kise couldn’t help but laugh a little.

“Hey,” he returned.

“Listen just everything’s fine now, so no need to worry.”

“Worry?”

“Yeah I had words with Kagami.”

“You did?” he stuttered out.

“Yes… well mostly claws.”

Kise wasn’t entirely sure what Aomine meant, but it was possible that Aomine was mad at Kagami about Kise. Maybe.

“Are you there?”

“Yeah… uh, I just. Well, I’ll call back later?” Kise said.

“No, I can talk now.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t realize that you weren’t dating Kagami,” he tested.

“I blame him,” Aomine said. Yep, Kise had been right. He could hear something in the background and Aomine straight up growled into the phone. “I’m heading to my room.”

It was midnight when Kise and Aomine finally got off the phone, and that was only because Kise could hear a creaking in the hallway that he was pretty sure belonged to one of his parents. He didn’t fall asleep right away, but when he did it was to thoughts of Aomine and how maybe he was holding his Olaf tight to his chest too.

***

When Kise woke up on Monday he half expected it to have all been a dream. However, the presence of Olaf proved that theory wrong. Standing by his locker he couldn’t help but keep glancing over towards the entrance. And when Aomine finally came in Kise just kind of stared at him. And kept staring at him until he was right in front of Kise.

“Hey,” Aomine said.

“Hey,” Kise breathed out. He knew that he was blushing which was ridiculous, but after having kissed Aomine he just couldn’t keep still. And Aomine was smiling at him and looking sheepish and Kise found himself grinning back.

“Well, I should get to my locker.”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll see you at lunch?”

“Ok,” Kise said again.

Kuroko was staring at him when Kise finally snapped his eyes away from Aomine.

“Ah good morning Kuroko!” he squeaked. He hadn’t even seen him there.

Kuroko almost seemed to be smiling and Kagami was… by his own locker, apparently.

Kise learned nothing that week. Well nothing that he’d be tested on anyway. Instead he learned how nice it was to be allowed to stare at Aomine. How good Aomine looked in v-necks. And how awkward a stiffy could be in the middle of the cafeteria, when on Thursday he caught sight of Aomine leaning over to pick up something that he’d dropped.

***

“Nijimura.”

“Seijuurou, what is it?”

Akashi waited until that last members of the student council had trickled out.

“If I were to bring something to you, do you think that you could try and identify it for me?”

Akashi watched closely. Nijimura had barely shown any sign of fear and yet the slight tick in his heart was enough to let Akashi know that Nijimura hadn’t just frozen in his paper shuffling to hear things carefully.

“I’m not entirely sure of what use I could be to you.”

The shuffling recommenced.

“It’s not something from around here,” he said quietly.

They stared at each other, each careful in their movements.

“I could… take a look.”

“Thank you,” Akashi said.

He turned to go, but stopped at the door. “I’d like this to stay between us.” And he left.

Akashi didn’t want to, but he had to. Harasawa had been inspecting the dart. They knew that it had Ketamine in it and the rest of the cocktail just seemed to be enhancers. If he asked for the dart back, they’d ask him why. But if he just took it, they’d notice. But there’d be a delay, and he needed that.

He went to the main house and waited. He listened, and waited, and Harasawa finally went to his room. Masked by sounds of the drier, and scents of food cooking, he let himself into Harasawa’s lab. Although he had used a scent dampener, they would still be able to smell him and detect his intrusion once the dart was found to be missing: once they were looking for a scent. But until then, he’d remain a shadow.

An hour later and he was on Nijimura’s street and calling him.

“I’m outside.”

“Come in through the east window, my room’s on the second floor. I’ll leave it open for you.”

He sped behind the house. There was a tree some distance off. He checked that he wasn’t being watched, climbed up, and vaulted onto the ledge.

“Come in,” Nijimura said.

Akashi produced the vial and Nijimura took it. Akashi notice that he was wearing gloves as he did so.

After a minutes silence Nijimura finally spoke.

“What’s in it?”

“It’s a tranq. Strong enough to take out werewolves.”

They stared at each other.

“What exactly are you asking me?”

“I want to know if hunters use this kind of projectile.”

Nijimura carefully put the dart down, and sat at his desk. “There are no more hunting groups. Not after werewolves came out into the open. Not after they agreed to subjection under human laws.”

Nijimura wouldn’t look at him.

“You know this as well as I do,” Nijimura said calmly.

“Yes, but I also know that there is someone luring werewolves down south, and that they’re hitting them with this dart.”

And now that he was giving context Nijimura looked up at him.

“They’re using a scent to pull them in. I can’t think of anyone other than a group of hunters who would know how to do that, and have the prowess to pull it off. Do you?”

He knew that his argument was sound. Nijimura seemed to agree, because he sighed and was suddenly very business-like, but not unkind.

“Different hunting groups used to have different MO’s. The purpose was to avoid territory disputes.”

“Territory disputes?”

“Werewolves aren’t the only ones who like to have their own area to have free reign in,” Nijimura said with a wry smile. “Think of it this way. If there are werewolves hidden all over who might decide it’s time to turn others or who lose control, you wouldn't want all of your allies in one spot, you’d want them to be manning different areas. One way you know that there are already hunters in the area, is that you see the same symbol cropping up.”

“So this projectile…” Akashi asked.

“I’ve never seen another like it. If it were a resurgence group they probably would’ve put something distinctive on it. This, on the other hand,” he held up the dart, “is distinctly indistinctive. You’re dealing with someone who doesn’t want to be found out, or with someone who was never a hunter.”

Akashi considered this.

“Isn’t there a database for hunters?”

Nijimura narrowed his eyes. “I’m sure you know that it was disbanded.”

Akashi had known. He also knew that he was being hard about this. But he had very few options.

“I’m not accusing you of anything,” he said.

“Just my family,” Nijimura countered.

“Are you honestly going to tell me that there aren’t still fanatical hunter groups? I’m not going to deny that there are still packs that could care less about humans.”

The tense air that had been filling the room broke.

“Ok,” Nijimuro sighed. “I don’t know for sure if it’s still up and running, my family wouldn’t use it, but… well others might. There were some pretty devoted hunters who liked the sport more than the purpose. And I wouldn’t be surprised….”

“Could you try and hack into it?”

Nijimura held up his hands. “There is no way. I understand the importance of this, but my family is no longer part of the network. And this is not my area of expertise. Hunters are trackers. If they have a network, you can bet that they will know everyone who comes in and out of it. If they trace it back here, my whole family could be implicated.”

“I’m sorry for being difficult. I do understand and I won’t ask you to do.”

Akashi put the dart back into his jacket.

“If I could help you I would.”

“I know. I know that,” he sighed rubbing his forehead. Nijimura was possibly the only person his age that he actually looked up to. “I’ve been having- there are these dreams. But I’m not even sure that they are dreams. During one of them I found myself in the woods. I don’t know how to explain it, but I knew, I KNEW where it was. And I went there. It’s a place down south, near where a bunch of werewolf disappearances have been taking place. And when I got there I smelled this fake, seductive,” Akashi shook his head, “scent.” He paused. “And then this flew out at me.”

“So the werewolves are being sedated and then kidnapped?”

“That’s the thing, they wake up hours later and have no recollection of where they are.”

Nijimura was deep in thought, Akashi could tell by the way his eyes drifted down and his brow furrowed slightly.

“It sounds almost like some kind of strange science experiment.”

“Science experiment…” Akashi would have to mull that over. “Nijimura, thank you. And I just….”

“No, I get it,” Nijimura said as he stood up. “For what my family has done, I’m sorry. And I’m going to be sorry about it for the rest of my life I’m sure.”

“Your family didn’t hunt for the game.”

“But they did kill. That to me… it’s unacceptable. I believe in rules, and order, and protection. I don’t believe in a system that kills killers.”

They stayed silent for a while.

“You know that the Akashi pack had no qualms with turning others, nor with killing on the full moon.”

They stared at each other. Akashi knew that Nijimura knew. They’d just never said it explicitly. Akashi held out his hand. Nijimura shook it. “Thank you again,” he said. And then he was gone.

***

Kise felt like such a little perv when he woke up on Friday with a hard on. But he had been dreaming about Aomine and he was horrified to know that he had imagined Aomine leaning over him in his bed, his back covered in sweat as he called Kise’s name. And the burn that Kise had felt in the dream made him feel hot and needy as opposed to uncomfortable. Aomine’s hands had been on him, gripping him. His eyes had been looking down at Kise. And Kise had felt Aomine inside him… Kise’s hand moved over his erection as his eyes fluttered shut at the half-formed visions, his mind going in and out of sleep, and his alarm on snooze. Finally he felt himself burning hotter and he knew that he was close. A few quick pulls later and he had spattered his sheets and boxers. He felt boneless, and only mortified once his alarm went off again and he was faced with having to clean up without his parents’ detection.

He went to school in a state of mild terror. Aomine wasn’t even his boyfriend. And that dream had been so vivid. How could he look him in the eyes after that?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #ishould'vewrittenitdrunk  
> Honest feedback is welcome.   
> thx


	16. I Will Come Back For You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guys it gets real  
> we're getting down to the wire  
> probably only a couple more chapters now  
> also sorry for the late update :( but it's a long chapter so please enjoy :)

Kise had been normal that morning. Only blushing slightly when he saw Aomine. It wasn’t until lunch that his brain really went into overdrive. He’d been sitting next to Himuro and Murasakibara, ever since he’d thought that Aomine and Kagami were dating. But this time Aomine was standing by the table and staring pointedly at Kise’s old seat. Kise took it, and Aomine sat down next to him. Kise’s heart was a hot mess and he KNEW that Aomine could hear it. So it was no surprise when Aomine gave him a weird look as if he couldn’t figure out what was wrong with Kise. Kise turned towards his food, but he could feel Aomine staring at him. Everyone else at the table was talking about college. And Kise tried to look up and act like he was paying attention, but he couldn’t. Finally he gave in and turned, in terror, to the boy of his wet dreams.

“I’m nervous,” he said quietly.

Aomine looked startled, but they just stared at each other. Aomine’s hand jerked to the side as if maybe he was going to try and give Kise a reassuring squeeze or something equally horrifying, but he abandoned the movement halfway through. Kise felt a little better just knowing that Aomine was nervous too. So Kise stretched out his own hand and squeezed Aomine’s quickly. It was almost like he could feel the tension slip out of Aomine after Kise’d shown him that he was ok.

Kise was smiling as he took a bite of his sandwich. At which point he caught Himuro’s eye, who was looking fond.

“So anyway,” Himuro said, as if he’d seen nothing, “we’re thinking of turning in our decisions. We’re going to stay in state, about a half hour away,” Himuro said grinning.

“Will you stay in the dorms?” Kise asked.

Murasakibara shook his head.

“It’s really hard for wolves to be away from their packs for that long,” Himuro said. “It just wouldn’t be fun for Atsushi.”

“I’m glad that you’re staying close by,” Kise said.

“Well someone’s gotta keep these boneheads in check,” Himuro said as he looked between Kagami and Aomine.

“Oi!”

“Hey!”

Kise laughed at their indignation. He hadn’t felt this normal in a long time.

***

Akashi could tell as soon as he walked in through his front door after visiting Nijimura that he’d been found out. The alpha was sitting at the dining room table with his father, and one penetrating stare later found Akashi following her into a soundproof sitting room. He took out the vial and handed it over.

She considered him. He stared back.

“Well?”

Akashi told her Nijimura’s theory. The alpha stared at him before sighing.

“Akashi you are still a child. No matter how powerful you are. This – this is something that the pack has to work on together. You can’t just go following leads without informing the others. You can’t decide things like that without the others consent or knowledge.”

It was what he had expected.

“Someone had to ask. Who better than a child?” Akashi asked. The alpha gave him a long hard look before chuckling.

“All right, but there’s going to come a day when you’re the alpha. And that means that you’re going to have to take the slow route, even if you know how to get in the fast lane. There’s no point steering a ship all by yourself if you leave everyone else on the shore. They have to understand where you’re going before they jump on board.”

She took the vial and left and Akashi found himself staring at his maps and charts and lists of strange occurrences.

 _The fast lane._ He understood. But… well they weren’t like their parents.

_“I’d follow you.”_

Quickly. Decisively. He couldn’t be anything other than what he was. He closed his eyes to clear his mind.

And he heard a voice ring out. Seijuurou, and he could see wolf eyes gleaming.

He sprung up whipping around the room. But there was no one there. It was almost as if he had imagined it.

Shit. He didn’t have time for the slow lane.

***

Kise was grabbing his books from out of his locker when Aomine came over.

“Hey.”

“Hi Aominecchi.” Kise blushed, Aomine gaped. “What’s up?” he said quickly as he took out another book.

“I just wanted to see if you wanted to come over tonight.”

Kise stared. Go over. Over to Aomine’s. Where the pack lived. He’d get to see Aomine’s room. Maybe meet his parents. Oh god. Oh my god. Holy shi-

“Only if you want. We could watch movies and you could stay over if you- if you wanted.”

“I- well- I mean. Yeah that would- I’d need to ask my parents though.”

“Right yeah cool.”

They stared at each other and Kise finally realized that he should be whipping his phone out to ask said parents if he could-

“So you’re coming over?”

Kise and Aomine jumped. What was even more startling than the surprise voice was the fact that it belonged to someone other than Kuroko.

Akashi was standing there staring up at them his eyes shining with something that Kise couldn’t place.

“I’m going to see if I can…” Kise said.

“Excellent I want to have a word with-”

Akashi stopped talking. He seemed to be staring past Kise. Kise turned around in alarm to see what was bothering Akashi, but there was nothing amiss. Aomine was standing on the other side of his open locker looking equally confused. Kise looked back at Akashi, who seemed to be thinking something through. Akashi nodded once, his eyes snapping to Aomine’s.

“Daiki would you?”

Kise nodded fervently as Aomine followed Akashi a little ways away. Akashi looked to be checking to make sure that they wouldn’t be overheard. And Kise resolutely turned his attention towards the most important phone call of his life.

***

Akashi had packed up his car without telling his father. But even so he knew that his dad must’ve known. It didn’t matter though, he wouldn’t say anything. Akashi drove off, stopped a few times for gas, slept for an hour while parked in a 24-hour department store, and then finally reached Bakersfield by Saturday morning.

It was spring break starting this week, which meant that he had time to comb the whole town through. He started at the police station, in the center of downtown and then headed to the big hospital, he explored neighborhoods that catered to the wealthy – their manicured lawns waking up in the rays of morning light. He passed through an industrial complex with abandoned warehouses and beater cars before he pulled up near one of the local high schools. He consulted his notes and found that he was near where the Kaijou pack was spread. He was driving past a series of smaller houses, but there was no way of knowing whether humans or werewolves sat inside their walls.

Nothing seemed looked to be out of place, and yet it was all wrong. He felt like a storm was just hiding out of sight, ready to engulf them all. He checked his maps to see if he’d missed something when he saw a large medical facility marked there. Helen Corps. _Sounds like a science experiment gone wrong._ Well at this point who knew. He pulled up the company history. Pretty normal stuff. He grabbed a coffee and decided to check the news on them while he sat in his car, see what they were currently developing.

He choked as he read the most recent headline.

_Although we have been assured that nothing was taken during the break in, it seems like there was quite a lot of property damage._

Akashi stared. What if the dart had been stolen? Was the company covering their own ass by saying nothing had been taken, because they didn’t want anyone to know what they’d been making? Had it been an employee who took it? Had they intended the dart to be used for nefarious purposes?

Akashi rubbed a hand over his face. He needed time to think. But how much time was there? He felt more than he knew, that something was going to happen.

 

 

And then he smelled it. Ash. Melting. Decay. There was a fire.

***

Kise’s mom said that yes he could go over to Aomine’s and when Kise finished talking he looked up to see Aomine staring at him intently with a sort of hopeful look in his eyes. Shit.

“I can,” Kise said, not trusting his voice to survive saying much more.

They were waiting for Kagami and Kuroko and Kise was starting to get nervous. What was a pack house even like? Would Aomine’s parents be back from work? What did his parents even do? He was starting to question whether or not he and Aomine even knew each other at all when Aomine brought him back down to earth.

“Hey, are you ok?”

Kise gulped and looked over. Aomine’s brow was all furrowy, his eyes searching.

“Yeah just I-” he couldn’t say that he was nervous. That would just make it all worse. “Uh…” he laughed awkwardly and then jumped as his phone rang.

“Dad?”

“Son, your mom called to say that you’re going over to Aomine Daiki’s.”

“Yeah,” Kise said. He turned towards Aomine and they stared at each other. He must be able to hear every word Kise thought.

“Well your mother and I just want to remind you to be careful.” Kise’s brain stopped functioning. If Aomine was a bad werewolf then wouldn’t his dad telling him to be careful _while_ he was with Aomine just make it worse? Besides Aomine wasn’t an asshole like those other werewolves-

“Don’t do anything you’re not ready to do, and if he tries to pressure you-“

“Ahhhhh” Kise screeched to cut him off. He knew that his face was on fire, and Aomine’s eyes were as big as saucers. Oh my god, oh my god oh my god ohmygod ohmygodohmygod.

“I’m just saying, you wouldn’t want him to have to answer to me now would you?” his father finished.

“Dad I get it thanks bye.”

Kise was beyond mortified. He couldn’t even look at Aomine. He shivered as he wondered whether or not his father had intended to be overheard. That man was fucking terrifying.

***

The drive had been beyond awkward. Kise and Aomine could barely look at each other and Kuroko and Kagami weren’t really talking. As bad as that was, Kise couldn’t help but notice that Kagami kept trying to talk, mostly to Kuroko, but that Kuroko would just answer with one or two words. Kise hadn’t really noticed until the ride that the two hadn’t really been joking around as per usual. And if Kagami’s shifty gazes to Kuroko were anything to go by, Kise would say that they were having issues.

But Kise didn’t have time to think about that because he needed to find a way to laugh off his dad’s comments and make it so that he could breathe again.

“Um I.” he stopped. Aomine was staring at him as if begging him to make that phone call disappear. Kise was aware that they were with Kagami and Kuroko, but he couldn’t not say anything. “My dad’s just protective.”

Aomine looked down, then up, then grimaced. “He’s fucking scary.”

Kise couldn’t help but laugh.

“Yeah, I guess he is.”

“But I- I mean we don’t- I”

Kise was red again.

“We could play basketball,” Aomine finally rushed out. “With them!” he shoved his finger violently towards the front seats where Kagami and Kuroko were sitting.

Kise was taken aback by the dramatic gesture, but he understood that Aomine was having his own mini freak out.

“Yeah, ok yeah.”

They stared at each other before finally realizing that the rest of the car was silent.

“I’d be game,” Kagami said hopefully.

“Ok,” said Kuroko.

***

Akashi’s car roared to life. If he hadn’t just been in the area he wouldn’t be so worried. But that was definitely where Kaijou was. Faster, faster, he had to get there before –

a long drawn out howl sounded.

***

As it turned out Aomine’s parents were not home. There were however, all sorts of people. Kuroko’s mom. A girl named Riko, Murasakibara’s brother, a bunch of lil werewolves who were told to stay in their wing when Kise came. Every room they entered they could hear someone else in the house. And it was a huge house. Kise was already lost and they hadn’t even made it up to where his friends’ rooms were.

“This is my room,” Kuroko said as they reached the landing. Kise poked his head in. It was small and messy and full of white and blue. His jersey was hanging on a peg on the wall next to a large assortment of photos of him with various friends. “I’ll change and meet you in the hall,” Kuroko said.

Kise noticed a buzzer outside the door but before he could ask-

“All the rooms are soundproofed,” Kagami explained. Kise blinked. “So we won’t hear a knock.”

“Oh,” he supposed that made sense for werewolves.

“Here’s my room,” Kise looked in. And then Kagami was gone and it was just him and Aomine.

“Mine’s down at the end.”

They walked in in silence and Kise took it all in. From the messy bed to the basketball posters to the stacks of magazines on Aomine’s desk. Kise walked around the room, everything was untidy and weirdly it smelled like Aomine. He could see the court through the window behind the house. It was far away and Kise knew that the werewolves must just speed over to it.

“Hey Aominecchi,” he turned pointing at the court to see Aomine standing five feet away and looking terrified. Kise’s question died in his mouth.

“Is it ok?” Aomine asked.

“Is…” what ok? His room? “Yeah it’s- it’s really nice,” he finished lamely. But Aomine just nodded quickly. “So you want to borrow some clothes?”

Kise nodded.

***

Kise had changed in the bathroom, and soon they were exiting through the backdoor of the house.

“Hey! Hawoooooo!” Kise whipped around to see a bunch of kids leaning way too far out of a window a few floors up. “What’s your name?” a girl with swaying pigtails asked.

“Oi!” Aomine said, blocking Kise from view. “Don’t hang out the window.”

“Buuuut we want to meet your boyfriend,” the girl said.

Kise had peeked his head out from behind Aomine, but now they were both frozen. Boyfriend. Boyfriend. They weren’t boyfriends. Kise couldn’t control how fast his heart was beating.

“Shhhhhhh,” one of the little boys was saying as he tried to shove the girl out of the way. Kise could see the boy flapping his arms at her and whispering. He couldn’t hear it, but Aomine definitely could.

“Don’t listen to anything Alex says,” Aomine shot back. Kise barely had time to wonder who Alex was.

“Hey mom will be mad if she sees you guys fighting near the window,” Kagami said. The little boy who had told the other girl to hush started flapping his arms again, trying to bustle the other kids inside.

Kise stared at Kagami. He looked completely calm and collected.

“Let’s go,” he said and he turned to follow Kuroko, who had already started going towards the court.

“What they said,” Aomine blurted out. “Just don’t listen to it. Alex loves to gossip, it’s not- I mean well,” he shrugged, but it was more like a twitch, and Kise saw the forced nonchalance for what it was.

“I know, I mean we’re not….”

They stared at each other before finally walking over to the court in awkward silence.

“So Kuroko and me against you and Kise?” Kagami asked looking hopeful.

Kise blushed, but he nodded as Aomine agreed. Kagami went over to Kuroko to ask him something.

Kise took a moment to watch them. There was definitely something happening there. Why hadn’t he seen it before? _Because you thought Kagami was dating Aomine._ He pursed his lips.

“Kise?”

“Hey Aominecchi, why is Kuroko ignor-” he stopped as he turned to face Aomine. They were so close and without even thinking about it his eyes flicked down to Aomine’s lips. He looked back up and took a step back laughing.

“Um we should start yeah?”

Aomine swallowed hard, opened his mouth to say something, made a weird gurgling noise and then just nodded.

***

It was well into the night by the time that Kuroko said that he couldn’t possibly keep going.

“I’ll head in too,” Kagami said as he sped to the bench to grab Kuroko’s bottle and handed it to him.

Kise and Aomine watched them leave.

“So…” Aomine said.

“One on one?”

“Yeah.”

***

Kise was exhausted, it had started raining, but that hadn’t stopped them. Finally though,

“Let’s stop,” Aomine said. “I can see you shivering.”

“I’m fine,” Kise said as he forced his teeth not to chatter.

Aomine came over and put his hands on Kise’s upper arms. The heat that radiated off of him was amazing and Kise found himself shivering in an entirely different way.

“See, you are shivering.” Kise looked at Aomine’s eyes then, rain clouding his vision. Kise stepped closer. He could feel the heat of Aomine’s chest now.

“I’m doing just fine,” Kise said. He had no idea where the confidence was coming from, but Aomine wasn’t backing down, in fact Kise had become aware that one of Aomine’s hands was now running up the length of his spine.

“Kise?”

Was his voice lower than before? Or was it just Kise’s imagination.

“Aominecchi,” he said softly.

They were close and really their lips meeting in the middle made perfect sense. Aomine’s lips were warm against his own, the rain making them slick. He wondered if his tongue would be even hotter and he opened his mouth to dip his own tongue in between Aomine’s lips.

Aomine wasn’t sure if Kise even knew that he was making small humming noises, maybe Kise himself couldn’t even hear them, but they spurred Aomine on. His hand was now low on Kise’s back and his mouth was open, tongue flicking around Kise’s as they shared their body heat. He felt Kise press into him finally, their bodies leaning into each other and Aomine could barely think. He felt like he was on fire.

“Aominecchi,” Kise purred into his mouth, Kise’s arms wrapping around him.

Aomine jolted back as his dick twitched in his pants. Kise looked completely debauched and only mildly confused.

“We- we should go inside, before-” he swallowed hard as Kise licked his lips, his eyes misty. “Kise?”

Kise nodded, and Aomine wasn’t entirely sure if either of them knew what they were doing anymore. But what he did know was that while he was getting hotter, Kise was freezing his ass off in the cold. And if Kise got sick….

***

Kise was shivering, the rain making his clothes stick to him. Almost all the lights were out in the house as they made their way up and into Aomine’s room.

“Here,” Aomine said as he rifled through his closet and pulled out some sweatpants and a shirt. Kise went over to take them. “Uh…” Aomine said as he looked up. Kise flicked his wet hair at of his face, and looked at where Aomine was standing halfway in the closet and just staring at Kise.

“What?” Kise said as he pulled off his shirt. It didn’t come easily and he had to shimmy a bit to get it off. He let out a small ‘oh’ as the cold hair hit his skin. “Aominecchi?”

Aomine shook his head as if trying to dislodge some thought before turning back to the closet. “I have some briefs that I haven’t worn yet, if you’d like you can keep them.”

“Ok.”

Aomine passed him some black underwear with little wolves on them. Kise stared before smiling up at Aomine. “Did you pick these out yourself?”

Aomine stood up straight scowling as he looked off to the side, feigning disinterest. Kise just shrugged before pulling his pants down.

At that Aomine did look back, his mouth hanging open slightly. Kise gave him a questioning look. “You need to change too.”

Aomine had turned back into the closet, so Kise thought it was safe to just go over to the corner and drop his own briefs before carefully sliding on the wolf ones. He had his back to Aomine and when he heard Aomine’s gasp Kise knew that he must be involuntarily freaked out by Kise’s scar again. Kise half turned back to see Aomine staring at him again, his eyes unfocused and his chest heaving slightly. But there was no point in it, Aomine couldn’t undo the scar, and there was no need for him to get angry about it. “Aominecchi you shouldn’t stare,” Kise said as he looked at the floor worried of what Aomine might do. But when he saw a blur he looked up instinctively. Aomine was standing right in front of him, so close that Kise had to actually look up to see his eyes.

“Kise…” he said, his voice hoarse and raw sounding.

What in the world?

“What’s wrong?” he said as he stepped back a little. He felt something close around his wrist, and he looked down in surprise to where Aomine was holding him. It didn’t feel scary, and that was somewhat startling in and of itself. He looked back into Aomine’s eyes, wondering when he’d come to trust him so much, to feel safe and not afraid around him. Kise smiled before stepping back.

“We need to change,” he said. It took Aomine a few moments to catch up, but when he did he let go of Kise’s wrist. Aomine retreated back to his closet, and soon they were both changed. “Can I dry my hair somewhere?”

Aomine showed him to the bathroom and got out the hairdryer. He didn’t say much, but he was at least acting normally again.

After Kise dried his hair he went back to Aomine’s room. Aomine wasn’t there and Kise was so tired that he just sat on Aomine’s bed. It was quite fluffy. He laid back remembering how Aomine had said before that he liked to sprawl. Kise snorted, before rolling around, it was the best bed that he’d ever been in. He got under the covers, and it smelled like Aomine. He inhaled deeply and burrowed further. Yeah he wasn’t sleeping anywhere else, if Aomine didn’t like it then he’d have to manhandle Kise out.

***

Aomine felt the guilt washing through him. He’d bolted to the bathroom on the floor below. In his mind he was pressing Kise up against his wall, running his hands through his hair, Kise’s smell everywhere, his mouth on Aomine’s mouth, their chests pressed together. Aomine pulled himself out of his sweatpants. How would he taste? Aomine held his cock carefully as his mind raced. How would it feel if it were Kise’s hand? How would he moan, and shiver, maybe ask; ask Aomine to touch him. Aomine let out a grunt as his dick grew hotter, precum leaking out. He wanted to run his hands down Kise’s body, feel his cock, taste him, know every part of him, hear him. Aomine’s head circled back at the images in his mind. He wanted him, wanted him more than anything as he came into the toilet, his body shaking and fur slowly inching out because he couldn’t help it when he felt like this.

He slowly pulled his cock, getting everything out, trying to slow his breathing and calm down.

Afterwards he’d hurried back upstairs. How long had he been downstairs? He opened the door to find his desk lamp still on and a tuft of yellow hair sticking out from under his bed covers.

“Shit,” he whispered. He inched closer, Kise didn’t move. He was just lying there, breathing softly in Aomine’s bed asleep. IN HIS BED. Kise probably didn’t understand; understand that you didn’t just get into a werewolf’s bed and seep your scent into it. Aomine went over to the windowsill gripping the ledge and trying to calm down, he had two choices, get into bed and pray to mother wolf that he didn’t start scent-marking Kise in his sleep, or go get a separate mattress. He looked back over at Kise. Everyone was always telling him to make better choices, and this was definitely one of those moments. He could practically hear Akashi’s voice in his head ‘get the mattress Daiki, don’t do something that will just make things more difficult for yourself.’ He bolted into his bed, pushing Akashi out of his mind and staring at Kise as he pulled the covers up. Kise smelled even better when he was sleeping peacefully and Aomine realized that he’d never even thought about what someone would do to have their scent be the best version of itself. It kind of made sense that Kise smelled the best when he was asleep, not worrying, not afraid. Aomine smiled to himself and rolled so that he was facing away from Kise, he needed to sleep before he did something even stupider.

***

Smoke filled the air as Akashi parked a few blocks away and bolted out of his car. The lone howl had turned into a chorus and when he turned the corner the heat hit him with purpose. He remembered this street, there were only a few houses, the rest of buildings uninhabited factories. But he didn’t see a figure in sight and he felt himself calling back a response to the screams that he heard. He forced himself to focus, to hone in on just one of the many voices. A small boy crying nearby. He followed the sound, transforming as he leapt through a window. Glass shattered, and he could barely see through the haze and dark. But he searched until he saw two figures huddled in a corner, flames licking up the walls towards them. A human and a wolf, both children. He grabbed the human and yelled for the other crying boy to follow. He got the human onto the street and then went back and grabbed the wolf before hoisting them both on his back and running them out to a safe distance.

He went back in, realizing that the chatter of voices was thinning. His blood turned cold. There was only one reason for why there would be so few howls. He ran as fast as he could, following the sound of a pitiful wail. As he jumped through another window he saw a dark haired figure pulling someone out of a side door, he couldn’t tell anything else from where he was, but they were getting out. He tried to listen for any other voices. He strained, picked one up and ran. He listened – a faint heartbeat could be heard and an anguished cry. He followed the noise to the same house that he’d found the two boys in. There, standing before the flames was a person, they weren’t leaving.

“We have to go,” he yelled.

The figure turned towards him and Akashi grabbed him as he started coughing uncontrollably. They were halfway through the garden when the top story blew out. If Akashi had been any slower they’d both be dead, but he’d thrown them to the side to avoid the debris.

He found his way towards where he’d left the boys. There were no more voices, no more howls coming from the houses and Akashi turned his mind off. He had fully healed – he was a future alpha. But he couldn’t heal the others. He wasn’t _their_ alpha.

By the time the fire trucks had made it all they could do was wait. Akashi watched as they systematically combed the houses. He had been taking away the pain of the small human boy, but he knew that the child wouldn’t make it unless he got medical attention. The boy was sped off in a fire truck. The figure that he’d found standing in the house let out an anguished cry as the truck left, but the others would heal on their own. Finally the firefighters finished their search. No one else had survived. Akashi stared at the four people in front of him, the pair that he’d seen helping each other looking shaken, the small wolf boy crying, and the young man holding the wolf boy in his arms silently. A whole pack, reduced to five. They were given clean clothes, there were questions asked, and finally the young man told them that they would be fine.

“Do you have a place you can stay?”

“Yes,” was the firm response. It sounded so much like a lie to Akashi’s ears and yet his heartbeat had remained steady, as if he’d practiced, as if he was used to lying.

“I’ll take you to the hospital,” he said after the firemen had turned away. They got to the hospital and the young man asked about the boy. The adrenaline had started to die down and he felt another emotion coursing through him: fear. He grabbed his phone, needing to check, to make sure that nothing – he had eleven missed calls.

_Kagami: Kise’s hurt. We don’t know what’s happening. Mom’s with him. Where are you? We need you._

Akashi jumped up. There was no time. Never any time.

“I have to go.” Akashi said fervently to the young man. “If you don’t actually have a place to stay,” he pulled out his wallet, grabbed a random business card, and scrawled their address and his number on the back. “I will come back for you.” He needed this man to know that. The young man nodded, Akashi gripped his shoulder and then he was back in his car.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the mini cliffhanger - but I had to :P (but really there was no good place to end this chapter so... :/) also yes i did just pull an teen wolf classic with that fire. Because of course I did.


	17. Alphas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys this is getting so out of hand. Like at least another chapter, maybe more. Who knows at this point. So much plot so much feelings. I can't.  
> Reminder for reading purposes: Aito is Murasakibara's brother.

There was something soft on Kise’s face. He felt so warm and snuggly that he just burrowed closer. He felt so safe in the morning light, his eyes pressed closed as his dreams tried to hold onto him for another minute. But something was moving next to him. He pulled himself out of sleep and opened his eyes. At first he didn’t really register where he was or what he was seeing, but there in front of him was a dark blue wolf, it’s face inches from his and it’s fluffy ears twitching slightly. He blinked trying to remember. Oh… he’d never seen a werewolf in its wolf form.

“Aominecchi,” he said in awe. The wolf made a low purring noise and Kise felt his heart pick up the pace. Had the purr been for him? He turned slightly and realized that there was a furry paw wrapped around his back, as if to protect him. And now that he thought about it he hadn’t slept this well in over a year. No nightmares had come. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but he knew that he didn’t want to wake Aomine, or to move, or to change anything about this moment. He stared at the wolfy snout and chuckled before something white-hot raked across his back. He screamed as it pierced him. It was like coals being pressed into him allover again and he barely registered Aomine transforming into human form as he woke up.

***

Kagami bolted out off the couch in the den when he heard the emergency alarm go off – there was a button in each of their rooms just in case – it was Aomine’s. Kagami ran into Aomine’s room and gasped in horror at Kise writhing on Aomine’s bed. Aomine was looking all over him as if trying to see where he was hurting.

“What happened?” Kagami yelled.

“I don’t know, I don’t know what’s wrong!” Aomine said incoherently. Kagami’s eyes widened as Kise flipped onto his stomach, beneath his tank top there was something red glowing.

“Howl!” he said, urging Aomine to act, but then Murasakibara was there, shifting into his part wolf and letting out a loud low whine of pain to alert the others.

Kise screamed even louder and Aomine shot back over, gripping his arm as if trying to take his pain. Kagami spared him a side-glance, they both knew that Aomine couldn’t help someone that way, but then his eyes widened as something black-

“Move,” came a harsh voice, and Kagami and Aomine whipped out of the way as Harasawa came in. Had Kagami imagined the darkness traveling out of Kise’s veins? He glanced at Aomine who didn’t seem to even have registered what had happened. Maybe Kagami had in fact imagined it.

Harasawa was now staring at Kise before finally pulling off Kise’s shirt to look at the claw marks. Kagami gasped before rounding on Aomine.

“What the fuck did you do to him!” he yelled smacking Aomine up against the wall, Aomine shoved him back before they were wrenched apart by Murasakibara who gave one low growl.

And then Kagami’s mother was bolting in and kneeling down next to Kise. She put her hands over his back and closed her eyes. Murasakibara let them go and the room fell silent, apart from Kise’s continued yells as they all watched the alpha.

The cut was closing, but it was still bright as if a firecracker were inside him. The other wolves who had come in, were lined up against the wall, Kuroko and Himuro standing with them. Aomine’s father came next, stared at the bed and then glared at his son in the ‘we will have words’ sort of way. Kagami himself could feel his heart beating out of his chest as he realized that Aomine had let Kise sleep _in his bed_.

“His shirt isn’t ripped,” Harasawa said. “A cut from a claw under-”

“This is a child’s claw,” the alpha said quietly.

Kagami who had been raging at Aomine in his heart stopped.

“What?” Kagami said shaking.

“The claws of a teenager would leave a much bigger gash.”

“It wasn’t me,” Aomine said as he slumped against the wall shaking.

“I’m assuming you and your boyfriend weren’t doing arts and crafts with the kiddos this morning,” Aomine’s dad said, no longer glaring, but still stern.

“No sir,” Aomine said as if on autopilot. Kagami could see Aomine’s brow furrow as his lips formed the word boyfriend. Kagami quickly looked at Aomine’s dad whose mouth was hanging open, as if the idiocy of his son still shocked him. Kagami privately hoped that Aomine’s dad would in fact hand him his ass for having someone in his bed who might not even be his boyfriend yet. He was roused out of this happy fantasy by his mother’s voice.

“Then,” she said patiently, her hands still resting over Kise’s back, “this didn’t happen this morning.”

Kagami did not understand.

“Kise he –” Aomine hesitated, but everyone was staring now.

“Now’s not the time to keep secrets,” his father said.

“He was clawed when he was a child, accidently you know, by a- another kid.”

Aomine’s dad opened his mouth to speak, but the alpha made a low ticking noise and they all fell silent, letting her think.

“Where is Seijuurou?”

Kagami blinked in surprise.

“He’s gone,” Aomine said.

Her eyes didn’t leave Kise’s back, “teens, out. Except for Daiki.”

They all moved to leave the room.

“Taiga,” his mother said quietly, “please call Seijuurou, he needs to be here for this.”

Kagami nodded and headed out.

***

“Who gave him the mark?” Harasawa asked.

“A friend of his. Kise used to live down south near another pack.”

“What pack?” the alpha asked.

“I don’t know.”

“Hachiro,” she said to Aomine’s dad.

“Got it.”

Aomine didn’t understand, but his dad was hurrying out of the room.

“Do you know anything about this friend?”

Aomine tried to think but came up blank. He shook his head.

***

Akashi had called and Kagami had told him what had happened. Kise’s scar lighting up, the fact that it was an old wound from another wolf, and that Kise was in some sort of nightmare coma. Akashi made sure to let them know about the fire and the small group of survivors. Akashi may or may not have broken the speed limit the whole way home. He also may or may not have almost been pulled over twice.

It was dark by the time he got there. His exhaustion taking a back seat as he hurled himself up the stairs and into Aomine’s room. The other boys were spread out sleeping on mattresses that must’ve been pulled in earlier, all except for Aomine who was sitting by Kise’s side and forcing himself to stay awake.

“Come here,” the alpha said. He immediately took his place by her side, replacing her hands with his. “You’ve had time to think,” she said without preamble. “Why would a scar come back to life?”

Akashi felt more than he saw Kagami stir awake.

“Alpha king,” Akashi said clearly.

“What?” Aomine mumbled.

“I thought those were just stories,” Kagami offered.

“Not stories,” said Kagami’s mother. “The alpha kings used to have their armies capture humans. Then the alpha would claw them. If the alpha king was hurt, the humans would be in excruciating pain. And if the king was badly injured the pain the humans would feel might just kill them unless healed by an alpha.”

“But couldn’t another alpha just heal them?” Kagami asked unsurely.

“These weren’t small packs,” Akashi said. “Imagine a whole nation with only one alpha, if that alpha were killed, who could make it to all the humans in time? Who would _want_ to?”

“It was in the Dark Ages, packs would fight for power; humans didn’t mean anything to them. By clawing them they could ensure loyalty – build up their armies.”

Akashi stared down at Kise’s back, almost completely healed.

“Wait so Kise’s friend is the Kaijou alpha? That doesn’t make sense. He should be the same age as Kise,” Aomine said.

“What friend?” Akashi asked.

Akashi had no doubt in his mind once they finished tell the story. That young man with the dark hair had to be who they were talking about. His childhood friend… Akashi froze. The photo in Kise’s locker, the man he’d dragged out of the fire, the young man he’d seen in his full moon vision. The voice he’d heard. All of it. The same werewolf. Not an alpha… until now – because the other alpha had died.

He could see Kagami’s mother watching him, and he forced his face to be coolly impassive, all of that could wait.

***

Aomine’s father went to the police station and checked in about Kaijou while a group of adults raced over to Kaijou to go grab them and bring them back in case the fire starters were still out there. Meanwhile Kise was still in a sort of coma.

“Seijuurou,” the alpha had said before exiting the room, “you need to sleep.”

Reluctantly he had set up in a corner of Aomine’s room, privately thinking that what he probably needed was a shower.

***

Akashi slept better than he had in months. When he woke up it was eight in the morning and he was so confused by this that he thought his watch might have been impaired by the fire – it had been but that didn’t change the fact that it was eight am.

He showered in a daze and dragged himself into the kitchen. Alpha’s, Kaijou, Kise, the fire, the man – that _man_ who had haunted his sleep and waking hours for months. The one who lied so easily. When he made it to the coffee machine he registered the presence of outsiders in the house. He tensed as he trained his ears on the soft soothing voice of the alpha. There were mild sniffles, some murmured questions from the newcomers, and when Akashi finally walked into the dining room he realized who it was: Kise’s parents. He could tell by the blonde hair framing the woman’s face, and the strong jaw of the father, his eyes narrowed, not in suspicion, but with worry.

“Seijuurou,” she said. Akashi schooled his expression – something that didn’t usually take effort.

“You must be Ryouta’s parents, it’s nice to meet you. Though the circumstances are less than ideal,” Akashi said.

“Akashi is the next alpha.” Kise’s dad’s eyes widened slightly. Well he seemed to understand the significance of that.

Akashi sat down and stared. “Ryouta’s going to be fine.”

“We were told that Kasamatsu is an alpha now?”

Akashi had been about to take a sip of coffee. But he stopped. “Kasamatsu….”

“Ryouta’s childhood friend. We were told about the fire; apparently you were there? They said that Ryouta was in pain because the Kaijou alpha was hurt, and that that person is the person who gave him the scar.”

Kise’s father looked unsure, but Akashi understood. He tried to give a reassuring smile. Something that conveyed both sympathy and agreement.

“It would seem, that whether he knows it or not, he is indeed an alpha now,” Akashi said.

Kise’s parents were permitted to see him briefly before the alpha took them back downstairs assuring them that Akashi would stay by Kise’s side. Akashi felt strange being up in Aomine’s room with the others. But he knew that this was his duty right now. His pack was his responsibility. Kaijou came second. So he waited with Aomine while the others slowly woke up.

***

Kagami had always thought that that story was more legend than truth, a ridiculous tale that was told to cubs so that they knew not to run around with their claws out. But now… it was terrifying to see what it could do.

“When will he wake up?” Kuroko asked.

“That’s up to him,” Akashi said.

And so they waited, Kagami going to get them food and drinks and more blankets because sitting around doing nothing was driving him loopy.

Murasakibara finally hauled his mattress out of the room and brought in his and Himuro’s desk chairs. Kuroko hadn’t moved during the whole thing. He didn’t eat, or drink or get up to use the bathroom. Kagami finally went over to check on him and he realized that he was breathing softly, back asleep. Kagami carefully tucked his blanket around him.

“Does anyone need anything?” Kagami asked as he looked around for something else to do.

“I’d like some water,” Akashi said, his hands back to resting on Kise as if monitoring him. Kagami hovered before going to get more water.

“You need to sleep too,” Akashi murmured to Aomine.

“I can’t,” Aomine said as he watched Kise.

“You can’t help him right now, but being alert and awake may be helpful later. I will call you out of your sleep if he wakes up,” Akashi said.

Aomine knew that Akashi was right, because he was always right, so he lied down next to his bed, staring at Kise’s face.

***

“We’re here,” came the voice of the Aito. Kasamatsu woke up instantly and looked back to where Moriyama and Hayakawa were also waking up. It wasn’t a nightmare, it was all real, it had all been real. He felt his heart plummet as his parent’s faces swam through his mind. He looked down at his cousins fast asleep and holding each other. The car stopped and Kasamatsu finally looked out the window, the sun was just peeking up over the mountains. They got out of the car and looked up to where a huge house stood.

“I’m guessing that you’ll want to see him first,” Aito said. “We’ll have time to talk afterwards.”

Kasamatsu nodded and followed Aito up several flights of stairs until he got to a room that had a heap of boys piled on various mattresses and chairs. They all watched in silence and he looked around before his eyes fell on the center bed, there was a boy sleeping and right next to him was Kise, on his stomach. Kasamatsu walked over soundlessly and knelt down next to the man with red hair. His hands were pressed into Kise’s back. But when Kasamatsu sat down he felt it, the power of an alpha, the same as he felt with the other alphas that he’d met.

“You must be Kasamatsu,” the boy said without looking at him.

“Yes, Kasamatsu Yukio.”

“I’m Akashi Seijuurou the next alpha of Teikou.” Kasamatsu didn’t see surprise in the boy’s eyes as he finally turned to look at Kasamatsu, but he was sure that Akashi recognized him from the fire. He realized with a sinking feeling that the strange longing that he felt must be a side affect of no longer having an alpha. Werewolves weren’t meant to be without a pack, and he knew that being in such close proximity to a future alpha must be making him want to swear allegiance.

“He might wake up for you,” Akashi said as he turned away from Kasamatsu.

Instinctively Kasamatsu held out a hand over Kise’s back too.

“Ryouta it’s me. I’m here.”

Kasamatsu waited, returning the piercing and slightly angry gaze of the boy with dark blue hair. He felt somewhat uncomfortable knowing that his best friend was with this werewolf now; he couldn’t explain how he knew, but the scent and the air told him as much. This must be his room. And Kise was in his bed. If they were already sleeping in the same bed, in the pack house no less, then this boy must be serious about Kise. Kasamatsu redirected his attention downward when he felt Kise stir.

“Kise I need you to wake up,” Akashi said softly.

Kise made a small noise and then started turning over.

“Move back,” Akashi said and Kasamatsu and the other boy did.

Kise’s eyes were fluttering open and Akashi stared into them as he told him once again to get up.

“Yukio?” came Kise’s weak voice as he noticed him over Akashi’s shoulder. Kasamatsu opened his mouth, but no words came out.

“Kise I’m glad to see that you’re alright.” Kasamatsu moved even further out of the way as the alpha entered the room.

“What’s going on?” Kise asked.

“Akashi will explain,” the alpha said, giving him a quick prideful look, “for now just rest. Daiki, Kasamatsu I need to speak with you both.”

He and this Daiki followed her out.

“I have to meet with the adults so we don’t have much time, but certain things need to be discussed,” she said as she opened a door to a small office and they both filed in.

“Kasamatsu,” she said, and Kasamatsu was painfully aware of the use of his surname, meaning that he wasn’t part of her pack. “I am very sorry for what has happened, no one should have to live through what you are living through.” She paused so that he could take it in. “You are packless, and that is no way to live, I will give you time to decide, but you are welcome here if you want it. If there is another pack that you feel more connected to, we will get you and the others there safely.”

“Thank you,” he said once the initial shock had worn off.

She gave him a grim smile.  

“Right I’m going to settle this before it becomes a problem: Kise Ryouta. I have heard a great deal about him from Seijuurou. Daiki, you need to think about whether or not you want to bond with him. If not, then you must put some distance between you. If you are not clear on your intentions then there is no way that that boy will realize. It’s time for you to decide.”

Kasamatsu stared incredulously as Aomine blushed furiously, but nodded.

“Kasamatsu, you left a scar on Kise. How?”

“He fell as he was trying to get into my window, I tried to grab him and I accidently shifted.”

“You were young?”

“Yes.”

“Well it’s created a connection between the two of you. I believe that if you joined another pack, he would be unable to join ours.”

“But he’s not… he isn’t a werewolf,” Kasamatsu said in confusion.

“You’ve heard the stories of the alpha king?”

Kasamatsu shuddered and nodded.

“There is some truth to that. Kise will always feel honor bound to you.”

“I don’t want that,” Kasamatsu said.

The alpha looked at him appraisingly.

“Only an alpha can claim hold of someone and only an alpha can release them.” Kasamatsu didn’t understand; he wasn’t an alpha.

***

“There may not be a lot of time,” the alpha said. Akashi side-eyed Harasawa who was pulling out a sheath of arrows and setting up his crossbow. What century were they in? Seriously. “We have to act quickly. Seijuurou, I need you to stay here – the adults will handle this. The police have already been informed and they’re expecting us down in Bakersfield.” _Stay here_ Aomine’s father must already be down there, Akashi thought.

“Harasawa, grab the supplies and let’s head out. Seijuurou, keep them safe.”

Akashi was positive that whatever attempts the alpha made down south would be in vain. Someone was hunting werewolves and it wouldn’t be solved overnight. He on the other hand had been tasked with welcoming the Kaijou werewolves, and keeping everything running smoothly.

***

Kagami was exhausted. He’d been so nervous and worried. But everyone seemed ok now. He moved like the dead towards his room and froze: Kuroko was sitting in Kagami’s desk chair, clearly waiting for him.

“Kuroko?”

“Kagami.”

Kagami closed the door and sat on his bed facing Kuroko. “Are you ok?”

Kuroko took one short breath. “You always ignore me after heats. I wonder if soon you’ll just ignore me all together. I don’t like it.”

Kagami was so tired. He brushed a hand over his face.

“But,” Kuroko continued. “A pack was just wiped out. You should know that I’m considering schools on the east coast. I don’t want to hide things from you and I don’t want you to hide them from me.”

Kagami was all of a sudden very much awake.

“I don’t want my best friend to ignore me. But if you’re going to keep doing it. And if you’re going to bring home someone else, then I’d rather have some space to not like Kagami anymore.”

“You can’t leave,” Kagami said frantically his brain still playing catch up.

“It’s hard to have you ignore me all the time,” Kuroko said.

Wait, _not like Kagami anymore._ “You, you like me?”

Kuroko sniffed and looked to the side. “I like you less whne you don’t talk to me.”

Kagami stiffened. “I- well- it’s just- heats, and uh… well stuff.”

Kagami cringed as Kuroko gave him an unimpressed look. “All wolves have heats.”

“Yeah, but, Kuroko I always worry that if I see you during my heat,” he stopped, his face on fire.

“What?”

“I um, I just like you too, but you’re human.”

Kagami felt Kuroko’s hand on his knees, but he couldn’t look up.

“You don’t like humans?”

And now Kagami was staring. Kuroko’s head was cocked to the side, and even though Kagami knew that Kuroko was doing it on purpose it didn’t make it any less attractive.

“I don’t want to jump you during my heat,” he stated bluntly before burying his face in his hands again. “Oh god.”

“Kagami worries too much.”

“What? Kuroko how can you-” Kuroko kissed him. Kuroko was kissing him. Kagami’s hands being lead away by Kuroko’s. Shit shit shit.

And Kagami kissed him back.

He leaned forward as Kuroko pulled away.

“You’ve been really annoying Kagami. Ignoring me. We could just chain you up in the basement when your heats come then you don't have to worry.”

Kagami blanched and Kuroko swatted him on the head.

“I’m teasing,” he said. Kagami felt his heart clench. Kuroko was actually smiling.

“Just don’t go to the east coast ok?”

“Just be honest about what you’re feeling ok?” Kuroko mimicked back. Kagami shook his head, but he felt himself grinning.

“Deal.”

***

Kasamatsu had been there for a week. There had been no news of any other survivors. Their pack had had 64 members. And now there were only five of them. His grief was beyond expression. He couldn’t cry, he couldn’t feel, it was like he was hollow inside. The scents of his family and friends gone, their feelings, their inter-connectedness obliterated. And being here with this pack made the emptiness feel even greater.

His cousins had been introduced to the other children of the pack and he found some solace in seeing them running around and playing with the other kids. But they didn’t seem to fully understand that they’d never see their family again. And how was Kasamatsu supposed to explain to them? Even worse was the way that Hayakawa had just stopped talking. And now Moriyama would answer for him. Kasamatsu found himself never straying too far from the others. He hadn’t been home in so long, but now he couldn't imagine being parted from the few members of his pack.

“Kasamatsu.”

He whipped around not even having heard the other wolf approach. All that training to center himself and now he didn’t even notice what was happening around him.

“Akashi…” that pull again when Akashi had said his name.

Akashi stepped up next to him, his breath ghosting over the wind as he stared at the court where the kids were playing. They were standing side by side and Kasamatsu was sure that Akashi was going to ask him if he’d made a decision yet.

“It’s warm out,” Akashi said. Kasamatsu didn’t say anything. Eventually Akashi spoke again. “I have something to talk to you about. And it will be difficult.”

“Ok.”

“You are the oldest werewolf here from Kaijou. Your other pack mates look to you to make decisions.”

Kasamatsu knew where this was going, he had thought about it himself, but he couldn’t- couldn’t face it on his own, and even so there was something else that nagged him. He could see out of his periphery Akashi turning towards him.

“I think that you already know what I have to tell you.”

Kasamatsu let himself take one more deep breath, before he forced himself to turn and face Akashi head on, his face set and his shoulders squared.

“If no other adults survived, then you are most likely the next alpha.”

“I don’t think that I am though,” he said clearly.

“And why is that?”

“You’re the next alpha at Teikou. If I am truly an alpha then my instincts shouldn't be drawing me to you.” He left out saying that his instincts _were_ in fact drawing him towards Akashi.

“Can you think of no other explanation,” Akashi asked. And Kasamatsu stepped back, realizing for the first time that being this close to Akashi had made his mind calm, his hollowness ebb slightly. But it seemed impossible. He’d been searching. And then finally decided to stop searching – possibly forever.

“I can.”

Akashi nodded, but didn’t say anything further. Kasamatsu was just about to open his mouth to apologize, when Akashi darted towards the children and stole the ball.

“Hey no fair!!!”

Kasamatsu found himself smiling slightly as they swarmed Akashi, all trying to grab at him and drag him to the ground.

***

_Aomine Daiki:_

_Hey you get home ok?_

Kise stared down at the message. He’d gotten the same message after school every day for the past week. Aomine had been really freaked out. Kise quickly messaged back that he was fine. Most of his emotional stress was for Kasamatsu anyway. He barely cared about the scar. Besides it just proved how hurt Kasamatsu must be. He couldn’t imagine losing everyone. And when he tried to picture it he felt so terrified that he stopped. Kise’s parents had offered Kasamatsu to stay with them, but the five pack members had to stay together, and for safety Teikou was the better option.

_Aomine Daiki:_

_Want to come over after school tomorrow?_

Kise was just about to answer when the garage door clanged open.

“Hey slugger,” Kise’s dad said as he came through the side door. Kise had started camping out in the living room. Feeling thankful for his two parents who were happy and alive.

“Hey dad.”

“So, I talked to the Teikou alpha today.”

“Is everything ok?”

“Fine, but they said that they might have a way to remove the – what did she call it – uh scar bond thing.”

“Oh.”

“You don’t seem excited,” his father said as he sat down on the couch.

“It’s not that, just… what if Yukio gets hurt again? Wouldn’t this let me know?”

His dad sighed. “Kiddo, being hurt for someone you love is sometimes necessary, in this case I’d say that that’s not a good enough reason. Besides Yukio can heal, you on the other hand,” his dad shrugged. “You can hang out with werewolves but at the end of the day you’re only human.”

“Yeah….”

“Speaking of which: Aomine?”

Kise blushed. They’d hung out during spring break a lot, but they hadn’t talked about them. Sometimes Kise thought that Aomine was going to say something. But then he’d just smile and continue talking about whatever they’d been talking about. Kise didn’t mind, but he also wanted to know. Was the reason that Aomine hadn’t asked him out that he wasn’t actually interested in being Kise’s boyfriend? Or had the scar thing freaked him out so badly that he didn’t want to be with Kise anymore?

“Son?”

Kise snapped back to reality.

“Um… well there’s been a lot going on.”

_Aomine Daiki:_

_Akashi said that it would be good for Kasamatsu if you were here more_

***

“Kise you coming?” Kuroko asked.

It was after school on Friday and Kise had told Aomine that yes he would be going over. He wanted to talk to Kasamatsu and to hang out with the others. He messaged him throughout the day, wanting to make sure that he knew that he was here for him.

“Yeah, just, ahh,” he toppled sideways as he grabbed a book that had just fallen out of his locker.

“Woah, careful,” Kagami said as he speedily righted Kise.

“Thanks.”

***

Hayakawa and Moriyama were outside studying at a picnic table – apparently they were doing self-study. Kise and Kasamatsu watched through the window of a sitting room that the alpha had designated as a Kaijou only space. Kise didn’t quite understand, but it had something to do with scents and needing a space that was only theirs. As far as Kise knew he was the only other person that they’d invited in.

“What was it like?” Kise asked.

“Well at first I went to the school with the others wolves looking for mates. It was…” he recalled the optimism, the desire, the over-flirting, the quiet desperation and need to make a connection, “it wasn’t for me.”

Yeah that didn’t sound like Kasamatsu at all.

“But there was a guy, Carl Page. He came to give a lecture about the possibility of never finding your mate. No one else really wanted to be there, you could feel it in the room, but I went up to talk to him after. I ended up traveling with him, instead. He told me that his mate had died right when she found him, she’d been searching.”

Kise shuddered.

“Yeah, tough break. I can’t really imagine it, but he said he fell apart for awhile, before finally turning to meditation, centering, self-discipline.”

“But you were only with him for a few months.”

Kasamatsu shrugged. “A lot of the things he talked about, well I’d been doing them already, growing up with you… well I’d learned to self-monitor. He just helped guide me so that I could do it better.”

Kise felt a lump settle somewhere near his navel _growing up with you._ He felt guilty. What would Kasamatsu be like if he’d never clawed Kise?

“Ryouta, I don’t regret anything.”

“What?” he couldn’t help the blush on his cheeks.

“Being friends with you, learning control, I can,” Kasamatsu broke off but Kise saw the brightness in his eyes. “I can stop myself from transforming at the moon.”

“What?” Kise nearly yelled. “People can do that?”

Kasamatsu chuckled. “Not most. But… I’m not going to hurt anyone, because of this. It’s like I’m almost human.”

“But,” Kise hesitated, “you say it like you’re a monster.”

Kasamatsu shook his head. “I don’t think that. I just think it’s important to be able to control your actions. To be able to protect not harm.”

***

“Stop pacing,” Akashi said.

Aomine looked up.

“And do your homework.”

“It’s Friday.”

“Then play video games.”

Aomine scowled as he sat in front of the TV. Kagami passed him a controller. Aomine growled.

“Hell it’s not my fault your boyfriend is shut up with his best friend,” Kagami muttered.

“Kagami,” Kuroko said softly, from his seat next to Kagami.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Aomine snapped as Kagami navigated to add a third player.

“He’s not Kasamatsu’s either,” Akashi said.

***

Kasamatsu couldn’t take it anymore. He had been meditating outside, convinced that no one disruptive would be up so early on a Saturday morning. But whoever had come to watch him wasn’t leaving.

“What do you want?” he finally said – the unfamiliar scent of a Teikou pack member filling the air.

“Uh….”

Kasamatsu barely stifled an annoyed sigh as he turned around: Aomine Daiki. Ever since Kasamatsu had come this guy had been shooting him ‘covert’ glances. Even now that Kasamatsu had caught him at it the boy wouldn’t say _why_.

“You keep staring at me.”

“No I don’t.”

Kasamatsu gave a very uncharacteristic smirk, but really what a lie to tell.

“Just, you’re, Kise – he….”

Kasamatsu stood up and strode over to face Aomine. “He what?”

“Talks about you.”

Kasamatsu was starting to question whether he was actually awake or not. “We’re friends.”

“Yeah I know,” Aomine said, eyes narrowing.

This was happening. This was actually happening. Not only had he been rejected by the boy that he’d liked for over a decade, but now he had to _explain_.

“Look, I’m not here for Ryouta. You know why I’m here. If it’s a problem we’ll leave.”

Aomine seemed to shrink slightly.

“No – I- I know that. Shit.”

Kasamatsu watched as Aomine’s face went through all the emotions of someone facing an internal dilemma.

“I just- I really like him,” Aomine said much too loudly.

“I know,” Kasamatsu said. “And what’s more I think that he probably likes you too.”

Aomine sighed in relief. What?

“So don’t make me regret supporting you.” Kasamatsu didn’t wait for the confusion to clear from Aomine’s face. Rather he walked back towards the house trying to hide his smile. “And stop staring, it’s rude.” Seriously. He was almost at the backdoor when he saw a pair of red eyes in the living room window: Akashi.

“You don’t live in the pack house do you?” Kasamatsu said. There was no point pretending that they hadn’t seen each other.

“I don’t,” Akashi replied. “I see that you finally got your confrontation with Daiki.”

“Could you hear?”

“Yes.”

Kasamatsu shook his head before grabbing a mug and some coffee.

“They’re mates aren’t they?”

Akashi merely looked at him before taking a sip of his own coffee.

“I’ve trained, so that I can tell more – more about other people.”

“Maybe other werewolves are able to tell through meditation and self-discipline,” Akashi said quietly, “or maybe it’s because you’re an alpha now.”

Kasamatsu tensed. “Akashi I don’t want –”

They both stopped. A small creaking from above, a holding of his breath and then the sound of someone yawning. Kasamatsu exhaled and realized for the first time how close he and Akashi were standing. He took a hasty step back.

Akashi just smiled before leaving the room.

***

“Yukio!” Kise said as Kasamatsu pulled up to his house. His car had been brought up by Aomine’s father soon after the fire, and he was thankful that he’d had it parked outside of the house – it was like a small piece of home.

“Ryouta, hey.”

Kasamatsu stayed to talk to Kise’s parents and then they made their way out to the same park where they’d first eaten Chinese food and Kise had told him about Aomine.

“He’s the one you sucker punched right?”

“Yeah,” Kise said looking sheepish.

“So you’re dating now?”

“No! Well,” Kise stared at Kasamatsu as if silently asking permission to talk about it.

Kasamatsu made a vague wave of his hand to indicate that really it was fine.

“Honestly I don’t know. Yukio I… I like him,” Kise said looking nervous.

Kasamatsu ruffled his hair in the most obnoxious way possible.

“Eeeeep! No!”

“Look it’s fine ok? We can talk about it. What do you like about him?”

Kise blushed. “He um, he’s really nice.” Kasamatsu raised his eyebrows skeptically. “Well not usually, but to me. There was one time when we went to this party and.”

Kasamatsu listened intently. It was good to actually hear that Aomine had a personality outside of being annoyed at Kasamatsu for existing. And the way Kise talked about him….

“I think you should tell him.”

“What?”

“He’s been staring at me all worried ever since I came. I think he really likes you. And you like him. And,” he steeled himself “and you’ve never talked about someone like this.”

They sat in silence. Kasamatsu knew that Kise was thinking, and he could use a break too. He’d moved on, but it was still strange to see a tangible option for Kise. Somehow imagining Kise with a faceless stranger had been easier. But also Kasamatsu just didn’t care. Kise wasn’t his mate. Kise liked Aomine. Aomine obviously liked Kise. That was enough. And more importantly he could smell it. They smelled like complements. A small voice in the back of his head, which sounded suspiciously like Akashi, kept whispering _alpha, alpha, alpha_ whenever he smelled and understood more than he should _._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a wee bit confusing so if you have any questions please lmk in the comments and I'll try to reply quickly.  
> Also as I may or may not have posted before: I'm in the process of moving / changing jobs so my updates will be infrequent - rest assured that I am still writing :)  
> Up next: Midorima and Takao come back and it will be great. So look forward to that <3  
> As always, thanks for reading *HUGS EVERYONE WHO WANTS A HUG*  
> If you have any requests please lmk on my tumblr :) [wulfm](https://wulfm.tumblr.com/ask)


	18. Pack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter BUT there will be a small epilogue shortly to explain a few things out and give prospects for the future.  
> \---  
> Teen Wolf Universe Note: Mountain ash is ash used by hunters. It is used to outline an area (ex. building; room; circle in a field). Werewolves cannot cross into or out of an fully closed outline. If the outline is broken then the werewolves can cross into and out of the area. Mountain ash doesn't affect humans.

“What the hell?” Aomine said as he opened the door.

Midorima huffed prissily before being pushed aside.

“Aomine, lovely to see you as always,” Takao beamed. “Turns out Shin is a super wizard and the Alpha called us over to help.”

“I’m not a wizard.”

“Magician, whatever.”

And with that Takao strode in.

“Wizard?” Aomine asked as he and Midorima eyed Takao warily from the doorway.

“It’s not wizardry, it’s just magic. Are you going to make me stand out here all day?”

Aomine opened the door a little further.

“Midorima, I see that your parents aren’t here,” said the Alpha looking amused.

“They consider it training.”

“Well if they think you’re up to it then I have full confidence as well, Kise’s just through here.”

Midorima followed her until he saw a pair of teen boys hovering that he didn’t recognize, he looked at the Alpha.

“This is Moriyama and Hayakawa, Kasamatsu’s packmates.”

Midorima hesitated. “I’m sorry but I have to ask you to stay outside,” he said curtly.

***

“Will it hurt?” Kise asked. Kagami, Murasakibara, Himuro, Kuroko and Aomine lined the walls.

“You won’t feel a thing,” Midorima said as he laid out a leather roll. Kagami peered over and blanched when Midorima pulled out what looked to be a fake claw.

“No,” said Aomine firmly, eyes darting between Kise and the claw. Kasamatsu and Akashi walked in, neither looked at all surprised.

“This is for him,” Midorima gestured to Kasamatsu, “not you.”

“But-” Kise started.

“It’s fine,” Kasamatsu said. They watched as he took his shirt off, folded it neatly and took his place in front of Midorima. “What do I have to do?”

“Just relax, and be the alpha that you are.” Everyone waited. “I’ll need someone to hold you.”

“Are you sure this is how it has to happen?” Kagami asked.

“I’ll do it,” Akashi responded, ignoring the now apprehensive looks of his packmates.

“Excellent, Kasamatsu straddle this chair. And Aomine hold Kise.”

“I thought you said it wouldn’t hurt him?” Aomine bristled.

“It won’t, but I need him to stay put and not interfere. Kise, take your shirt off and take the seat beside him. Akashi, pull up a chair, you’ll need to position yourself so that you can hold him to the back of his chair when he tries to resist.”

Once positioned Akashi and Aomine settled behind Kasamatsu and Kise.

Midorima put a hand on Kasamatsu and Kise’s backs.

“Let’s begin. _Ego in locum eorum._ _Quod mutare stupentes mirati._ _Forma mutata est cicatrix._ ”

Kise let out a little breath and Kasamatsu tensed. Akashi stared at Kasamatsu and nodded once. 

Midorima put on the claw and Kagami, Murasakibara, Kuroko and Himuro tensed. “ _A sanguine_.”

Kasamatsu let out a cry of pain as the claws sunk into him, slowly going down his back. Kagami clenched his fists to keep from trying to stop Midorima.

“Yukio?” Kise said. Aomine held Kise as he tried to turn in his chair, to scramble up, to help.

“Holy...” Kagami stared as the scar on Kise’s back started to fade. He looked at Midorima and startled at the sight of his eyes, which were seeping black. 

“ _Formam mutatio_.”

Kasamatsu was shaking, his jaw clenched, all screaming finished after his initial cry of pain. Akashi stared into his eyes and Kasamatsu stared back, his fur starting to shoot out, his teeth elongate. Akashi gripped him tighter.

“ _Formam mutare ignis_.”

They all jumped and Kasamatsu let out another grunt of pain as fire erupted from Midorima’s hand, covering the gash down Kasamatsu’s back.

“ _Ad terram ad corporis_.”

Kise turned in his chair, Aomine barely holding him now, just a slackened grip to ensure that he wouldn’t disrupt the process. But then Midorima was pulling out the claw, the fire had ceased and there sat a layer of ash over his back. Takao brought over a wet towel, which he handed to Midorima.

“I’ll do it,” Akashi said. The air was heavy, but Midorima just handed it over. Midorima packed up his stuff and Takao, the only one still grinning followed him out of the room.

“Go ahead,” Akashi said to the others.

When the door closed Kasamatsu started shaking.

“You did well,” Akashi murmured as he made to get up. Kasamatsu held onto Akashi’s arms, keeping him in place. Akashi sat back down.

“I... I didn’t know there would be fire.”

“There’s always fire.”

Kasamatsu nodded.

“I’m going to clean you up now.”

With methodical swipes Akashi took the ash off of Kasamatsu’s back, revealing the scar beneath. Akashi didn’t need to tell Kasamatsu that it wouldn’t go away, Kasamatsu already knew.

“Well,” Akashi said in his usual confident voice, “this confirms your alpha status. So what’s your decision.”

Kasamatsu grabbed his shirt and followed Akashi out.

“I’m going to let the others decide. I may be an alpha, but it’s not just my decision.”

Kasamatsu just caught the smirk that graced Akashi’s lips.

“What?” Kasamatsu asked, unable to keep his curiosity in check.

Akashi shrugged before stating carefully, “that sounds like what you’d say.”

***

The end of the school year was approaching quickly now. Kise found himself at Aomine’s almost as often as he was at his own home. His parents had even gone over for dinner. And all the while the pack was trying to discover who was behind the fire and how the dart was involved.

Akashi was in his room reading, it was the day after graduation, he couldn’t focus. If he could just- he stood up hastily.

“Well you see Mr. Seijurou’s dad, we just thought that we’d surprise Sei with an impromptu-”

Akashi was down the stairs in a flash. Takao, Midorima, and Nijimura were standing in the doorway each looking more annoyed than the first, but none as unimpressed as Akashi’s father.

“Father,” Akashi said.

“Seijurou I’m off to work. Don’t get dirt on the carpet,” he said cooly eyeing Takao’s sneakers.

“Yes sir.”

The three crowded into the foier as Akashi Senior exited the house. They waited until they heard the car zoom away. Akashi let out a sigh, eyebrows raised.

“Right so this has nothing to do with the student council,” Takao said.

“So you’re saying,” Akashi asked a half hour later once they were safely up in his room, “that we might be able to figure out who set the fire by looking at how it was set?”

Nijimura nodded. “This kind of fire – they called it Extermination. It’s a very specific process. They lace the house with an accelerant. It’s odorless, so it’s virtually undetectable to werewolves. Then they use mountain ash to block the exits,” Nijimura held up a bottle of the gray ash. “Different ash is native to different regions, most of it has been excavated and refined, we can trace it to the source, and maybe figure out who had access to that region. Then we see which hunting group used the refining techniques that are indicated. I’m not offering guarantees, but it’s something.”

“And what’s your involvement?” Akashi asked.

“We just want to hang out,” Takao said.

Akashi turned to Midorima skeptically. Midorima huffed.

“I didn’t realize that demons ‘hung out.’”

“Demon?” Takao said looking between the two.

“Who else has eyes that turn black?” Akashi queried.

“Oh,” Takao’s mouth made a comical ‘O.’

“Shut up,” Midorima said again, now blushing furiously. “You already knew didn’t you?”

Akashi shrugged. “Demons, werewolves, hunters, humans, what does it matter,” Nijimura said. “Let’s head out.”

Akashi stopped when he saw the huge bow that Nijimura had brought. “What?” Nijimura asked.

“I was just thinking that it looks a lot more practical when you bring it than when Harasawa does.”

“I didn’t have time to learn how to use a gun,” Nijimura said dryly. “And I’m 17. Let’s go talk to the Alpha. And then if they let us go with them-”

“The Alpha’s already down in Bakersfield. They’re meeting with Rakuzan to figure out if they have any leads.”

“So are we going to go meet them…?” Takao asked. Akashi shook his head.

There was the sound of grass crunching.

“Hey.”

***

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier that you were a demon,” Takao hissed.

“It’s- irrelevant,” Midorima said. He was stuck squashed in the corner, Takao in the middleseat and Nijimura behind the passenger side.

“He was probably worried you’d leave him,” Nijimura said.

“What? Why would you think that?”

Midorima was silent.

“Shin you’re obviously a good demon.”

Akashi blocked them out, Kasamatsu was staring out the window.

“What’s on your mind?”

“I got a call this morning.”

Akashi waited.

“Shirogane, the alpha of Rakuzan, asked us to join them. I told him no.”

Akashi didn’t have to ask, he knew what that meant, Kasamatsu was staying.

“The others don’t want to go back. It’s hard to be there after....”

“I understand.”

The back of the car had gone silent. 

“Rakuzan isn’t a normal pack,” Kasamatsu said. 

“How so?” Takao asked.

“Did you know that the Rakuzan pack only has male werewolves?”

“How is that possible?”

Nijimura didn’t need to hear Akashi’s sound of indignation to know that it wasn’t. But Takao was looking back and forth in confusion.

“They kill off the girls,” Akashi said.

“They don’t care about Kaijou,” Kasamatsu said bitterly. “And… and they’re the ones who harassed Ryouta in school.”

“Kise,” Akashi clarified looking in the rearview.

“Oh.”

“In their statement to the news they said that they’ve always felt persecuted, that they were _afraid_ to go forward though, because who would believe them, and now this _tragedy_ ,” Kasamatsu chuckled bitterly.

“If a group of hunters did set the fire, would they go after Rakuzan next?”

“It would’ve made more sense to do Rakuzan first – they seem to be a strong pack,” Nijimura said.

“They’re definitely not the kind of werewolves that would cower,” Kasamatsu said. Finally Takao insisted on turning on the radio.

“We’re playing classical,” said Akashi.

“No one likes classical,” Takao pouted.

“Shintarou?” Akashi asked.

“It’s good for concentration.”

“Shuzou?”

He remained silent.

“Kasamatsu?”

Kasamatsu looked over at Akashi before hooking up his own phone.

“Electronic classical remixes,” he said flicking a glance back at Takao who smiled slyly.

“What about the dart?” Nijimura said after an hour of musical listening. “Have you heard about this at all?” he asked Kasamatsu.

“Actually a few weeks back I was hit by the dart, my mentor was there, so he was able to carry me off. He said that I just passed out for several hours. Although I remembered being in the woods, I couldn’t remember the dart or anything else. I’m assuming all the other werewolves had the same experience.”

“It was never human pack members that were hit?” Nijimura asked.

“Never.”

“Method wise I’d say hunters, but something’s off. It wasn’t a poison, there was nothing different when you woke up, it just doesn’t make sense. There’s no reason for hunters to do that – the risks are astronomical.”

“Helen Corps, do you know anything about them?” Akashi asked.

Kasamatsu shook his head. “They do medical stuff, nothing weird that I’ve heard of. We did some digging though. The liquid seems to have been an anesthetic. It looks like they were going to use it in cases of extreme werewolf surgery – like if our healing wasn’t enough, but it was discontinued.”

“So someone is trying to take something from the werewolves while they’re unconscious….” Nijimura said pensively.

There was a pause.

“Who’s your mentor?” Takao asked cheerily. Kasamatsu’s lips quirked up.

“Carl Page. Back in February I joined one of those ‘mate finding groups.’”

Akashi raised his eyebrows.

“Yeah well, anyways,” Kasamatsu said. Nijimura stifled a cough and Kasamatsu blushed slightly. “I ended up breaking away fairly quickly, I met a man, he was trained in the old Egyptian order that practiced control through meditation and discipline. He taught me how to control the shift, and we ended up traveling together. His mate had died when he was very young, and we practiced disciplines to bring peace of mind, spiritual cleansing and the like. He also helped me to project my emotions – he said that if my mate was strong they might feel it – I still don’t know how true that is, but I tried. We ran into the dart a few weeks in and it got him curious so we decided to sniff around. He’s back on the east coast at a summit now.”

***

It was after dusk when they arrived in Bakersfield, creeping towards the caution tape. Nijimura carefully slid under it and walked down the street.

“Do you know where it started?” Nijimura asked.

“They didn’t say,” Kasamatsu said as they snuck along.

“Where was the alpha’s house?”

Kasamatsu pointed up the road and they followed.

“If any house had extra done to it, it would be this one.”

They watched as Nijimura went to the back window. He peered at it carefully, “please keep watch.” Kasamatsu and Takao turned to look out over what was left of the land behind the house.

Nijimura pulled out a vial and undid the stopper, releasing one solitary drop on the sill. Nothing happened. He squatted by the base of the house and did it again, his brow creasing.

“Akashi your hand.”

Akashi held it out and Nijimura pressed it to the sill.

“No mountain ash,” Midorima said.

“Let’s check the door.”

They checked the door and several windows before proceeding to the next house, and then the next one.

“There isn’t any mountain ash here. None.”

“What does that mean?” Takao asked as they slipped into the basement of one of the buildings.

“I have an idea,” Nijimura said slowly.

Kasamatsu didn’t know what he was checking for but at one point there was a poof of smoke after Nijimura checked a breaker switch. Nijimura backed up quickly. “Where did you say the pack was now?” he asked as he made for the door.

“At Rakuzan.”

“We need to go now,” he said.

They were in the car driving over before Nijimura said anything else. He was grabbing his bow and pulling out arrows. “Werewolves set that fire.”

“What?”

“We have to go to Rakuzan right now.”

***

“Shin I’m definitely coming in too.”

“This isn’t up for discussion. Wait in the damn car.”

“I can help too!”

“It’s too dangerous.”

Takao turned a blotchy red.

“But-”

“I told you what they do to their own humans,” Kasamatsu said quietly. “We’ve lost enough people already,” he said determinedly. “Midorima doesn’t want to add you to that list – I can guarantee that it would hurt him more than you.”

Akashi’s hand barely brushed Kasamatsu’s hand in the lingering silence.

“Outline the car in this,” Nijimura said handing him a vial of mountain ash, “be ready to break it for us if you have to.”

The other four hurried forward. “Teams of two,” Akashi said.

“Midorima and I should circle the perimeter,” Nijimura said.

“And we’ll go in,” Kasamatsu said firmly.

“I’m going to make us undetectable,” Midorima said and he pulled out a long knife. Nijimura didn’t even look fazed. Midorima sliced his hand “ _sanguinem qui portavit_.” His blood ran out blue and he smeared it on Nijimura’s neck.

“Charming,” Akashi said and they continued. He registered the two heartbeats fade into a light thump on his radar. Normal werewolves wouldn’t detect Midorima and Nijimura at all. As they reached the front door Akashi could hear voices wafting through.

“Shall we ring the doorbell?” Akashi said placidly. A moment later the door flew open – no bell required. A man with brown hair and an annoyed expression answered.

“What do you want?”

“I’m Akashi Seijuurou, and I want to come in.”

“Shouta, let him in,” came a yell.

They were lead back to a dark room where five men sat on one side of the table as if holding council. Akashi looked over to where his Alpha sat, she was giving him a hard look before she ticked her head slightly to the side in invitation. There were only two other representatives from their pack there. Akashi did some fast thinking, five of what he could only assume were the strongest of the Rakuzan pack plus that Shouta versus him, Kasamatsu, their Alpha, and two others. He wasn’t afraid but the odds didn’t seem to be in their favor.

“Ah Kasamatsu.”

“Shirogane,” Kasamatsu said stiffly.

“I’ve heard that you’ve made Teikou your new home.”

Kasamatsu barely nodded, and Akashi gave him a warning look.

“Tell me,” Shirogane said. “What brings you all the way down to Bakersfield?”

“Oh, just looking around,” Akashi said.

Shirogane shifted forward, hands pressed together. “And did you find what you were looking for?”

It was a stare off, he could tell that Shirogane already knew that they’d figured it out.

“More than what we’d been looking for.”

Shirogane was over the table in a flash, but Akashi didn’t have time to help his Alpha, not when two of the other men had turned on him and Kasamatsu.

Akashi dodged quickly, the unsuspecting werewolf flying past him. By the time he turned the man had already transformed – a half wolf. Akashi shook out his red fur as he leapt, claws finding purchase before he was thrown back down. He rolled and grabbed the snarling beast above him, he got his claw under and hoisted him over. And then the wolf was shuddering and collapsing. Akashi saw the arrow lodged in him, Nijimura was crouched in the window and taking aim. Akashi bolted over as another Rakuzan wolf noticed the hunter.

Nijimura rolled out of the window before Akashi got there, and someone was on his back. He turned to see the wolf that had been fighting Kasamatsu. He threw him off and barely caught sight of Kasamatsu shaking on the floor, unable to stand up. Akashi was hit from the side and he snarled at his attacker. He moved faster than normal, and finally rammed him back into a chair. When he looked up he found that the two Alphas were circling each other, the rest of the wolves wither unconscious or out of the room. He couldn’t leave his Alpha.

“So you kill human pack members and now you kill other werewolves too?” Akashi said in disgust. “You’re the ones who set the fire.”

“What we do with our own is our own business,” Shirogane said.

“Those aren’t your lives to take,” cut in the Alpha. “You didn’t really think that we’d come in without looking into your history first? Human pack members conspicuous only by their absence, intermarriage, and a series of strange terror incidents in news reports throughout Bakersfield. A human’s gone missing every year that one of your sons comes of age, and every year an alpha dies and a new alpha is chosen. You think we wouldn’t recognize that?”

Akashi hadn’t picked up on that. Kagami’s mother truly was badass.

“Necessary sacrifices.”

“Only to enhance your own power,” the Alpha said. “Hardly necessary,” she growled. And Akashi understood. It was a crude ancient practice, eating the hearts of humans to increase your power – definitely not practiced anymore.

“We already are powerful,” Shirogane said emphatically, “don’t you understand? The humans hold us back. Asking us to act like them? Ridiculous. We’re already superior. They fear us and they should. I won’t let my sons be locked in this prison of humanity, when they deserve to rule.”

“Rule,” the Alpha laughed.

“With power comes the requirement to take responsibility. We are faster, stronger, more capable, and thus we need to lead. It’s natural for us to take control,” Shirogane said.

“Control… that’s not for us to decide.”

“Isn’t it though? Why should our children have to suppress their wolves? Why is it considered bad to use our ears, our sense of smell around humans? Do humans stop walking because they know someone who is lame? Of course not,” he said pacing angrily.

“There’s a difference,” Kagami’s mother said quietly.

Shirogane smirked. “I’m sure.”

“Everyone deserves privacy, safety, love, that’s why we don’t listen in on people. It would be the same as humans standing by keyholes. And as for scenting out emotions… not everyone wants their feelings known. We have a gift and it should be used wisely, thought about carefully, so that it doesn’t harm others.”

Shirogane had started moving back and forth, as if stalking prey.

“Think how you want, but you’re talking in dreams, the reality is that we’re being held back, denied who we _are_. We won’t settle. Not anymore. And we’re not the only ones who think so.”

Akashi moved forward, but the Alpha held out her hand and he stopped.

“And there’s no way that we can persuade you otherwise?” she asked Shirogane.

“No,” he bit out and he lunged forward.

Akashi was fast, but there is no getting in the middle of a one on one Alpha fight. He tried to enter, but they threw him off, so he watched when Shirogane finally sunk his claw across the Alpha’s throat. Akashi heard her heart stutter, and his legs carried him to Shirogane without him telling them to move. He felt himself finally find purchase on Shirogane, and rip out his heart, as he let out a long growl of hatred.

He threw Shirogane’s body to the side and grabbed the Alpha. “No,” he said, but her eyes were flickering. No matter what amount of pain he took it didn’t change the fact that Shirogane was an alpha too and his wounds ran too deep. Akashi knew it was over when the black in his veins ceased – you can’t heal the dead.

***

Takao was crawling away from the burning car. Molotov cocktails. These werewolves and their fires, he’d barely made it out before the werewolf that had thrown the makeshift flamethrower was running at him. Takao was a goner, definitely dead.

And then he saw a huge black ball of fur flying out of the house. The werewolf that had been approaching fell with a thud as the furball cut his back open. Takao was shaking but then the fur was receding and Kasamatsu was kneeling by him. “Perks of being an alpha,” he said as he clutched Takao’s forearm and began the healing process.

Takao looked up at two dark shapes coming towards them.

“It’s just Midorima and Nijimura,” Kasamatsu said.

“Oh, where’s Akashi?”

Kasamatsu strained his ears, he could sense Akashi in the house, alone.

“He’s ok….”

*******

Kise was nestled on the floor, the son already having set hours before, Aomine’s legs on either side, both of them staring avidly at the TV, they were definitely going to beat Kagami and Kuroko in this round.

“Yes!” he said as their balloon reached capacity and took off.

“Next time!” Kagami said before doing a double take at the clock. “Hey is Akashi over today?” Kagami asked.

“Isn’t he home?” Himuro said from behind his college packet. “Or maybe he went to help out with the pack day.”

“Whatever I’m just glad that we have the house to ourselves,” Aomine said yawning.

“You’re just lazy and didn’t want to go camping where there’s no cell service,” Himuro teased.

“That would’ve been better than having to go with my mom down to Bakersfield though,” Kagami reasoned. “Next round?”

“Bring it.”

“Well I’m getting lunch. Atsushi?”

Murasakibara followed Himuro out.

In the middle of their third round Aomine and Kagami both froze.

“What’s-” Kise started, but Aomine shoved his hand over Kise’s mouth.

And then he hallucinated, because there was no way that that voice was here in this house.

“Ryouta,” it sang out. Kise gasped, it was impossible. But the others wouldn’t be looking at him like that unless they could hear it too. “Ryouta come out to play.”

Kagami held out his phone and mouthed _type_.

_Rakuzan. Went to my high school._

Aomine cocked his head before grabbing the phone _3 peopel._

Kuroko typed _what about Himuro and mura_

“This one’s pretty too,” came Mibuchi’s voice. Kise shuddered. It was like he could hear Kise’s thoughts. “But you know how I like blondes.” Kise couldn’t look at Aomine, not when he felt so ashamed, and not when Aomine’s eyes were so wide with concern.

Kagami grabbed his phone back and immediately sent out a message to the pack. But weren’t they camping in the woods? Wouldn’t they be out of range, and the rest were down at Bakersfield. Kagami sent another message to Akashi – who was at least in town. But what if he wasn’t…. What if they were alone?

“But I’ll settle for him if I have to,” Mibuchi said. Kise jumped as he heard an inhuman growl.

“Murasakibara,” Kuroko said quietly and then his eyes lit and he gestured for them to follow into Kuroko’s room. Kise stared in confusion as he pulled out a bottle of what looked like dirt. He saw Aomine mouth _mountain ash_ not that Kise knew what that was. But then the other three were silently communicating and before he knew it Aomine and Kagami had left the room. Kuroko hurried to shut the door and bolt it.

“Take this and make a line around the molding,” he said quickly before diving into his closet again.

“But-”

“No time,” Kuroko said and Kise got to work. He met Kuroko at the window, where Kuroko coated the ledge. “It’s called mountain ash, werewolves can’t touch it and they can’t cross it. We’re safe.”

“But Kagami and Aomine?”

“We would just get in the way. And Kagami is the alphas son.”

“But Aomine typed ‘3.’ If Mibuchi’s here then I know who he brought. Kuroko those guys, I went to high school with them. They’re not normal. They- they didn’t just bully me they-.” Kise hadn’t realized how badly he was shaking until Kuroko put a hand on his arm, his eyes staring at Kise as he wordlessly offered to listen. Kise just shook his head. “I’m scared.” And although Kuroko didn’t look it, he whispered “me too.”

***

They were silent for most of the drive back. Midorima, it seemed, dropped unconscious after a certain amount of power was used, Akashi wasn’t completely sure that that was why, but one quick call from Takao to Midorima’s parents provided the answer. _He’ll be out for about 24 hours. No worries._ Aomine’s father had let them use his car while he drove up with the others and the body.

***

Aomine and Kagami crept down the stairs, but it was apparent that the three intruders were on the first floor. When they got to the second floor landing Kagami knew that they were fucked. They had no idea what they were doing.

“I don’t smell Ryouta,” came the voice. Kagami saw Aomine bristle, and Kagami grabbed his arm in warning. They stepped down into the hall, Kagami taking point and Aomine checking behind them. He stopped abruptly at the sight in the kitchen, two boys were holding Murasakibara who seemed to be doing his utmost to get out of their grasp. And there on the table was Himuro, a long gash on his forehead and apparently unconscious. Kagami knew not to rush forward. And then he realized- the other person was- he wheeled around in time to see Aomine snarling at an oncoming figure. Kagami jumped out of the way as they crashed to the ground. He could barely tell who was who as the figure slammed Aomine against the wall, then was flipped over. The pack photos on the wall fell with crashes all around them, and Kagami could smell blood. In his panic he turned to see Murasakibara trying again to break free and Kagami hurried over. The two males had transformed and Kagami knew that his half-assed wolf was no match. But this was a pack or death matter and so he charged straight into the smaller of the two in a rugby tackle. He felt something collide with his face and he let his teeth dig in, the foreign howl welcome.

***

Kuroko hung up the phone. “The police should be on their way if nothing else.”

They were sitting on the floor, leaning against the bed.

“I don’t want to just sit here,” Kise said.

Kuroko hummed in agreement. “They’d hear us coming. And there’s no alpha around to heal us if we got hurt.”

“It’s my fault.”

Kuroko stared at him. “I don’t know what happened, but it’s not your fault.” Kuroko looped his arm through Kise’s and they waited.

***

The lawn was covered in police cars when they got back. Akashi’s blood ran cold.

“Dad!” Takao yelled as they piled out of the car. “What’s going on?”

Takao’s father pulled out his ipad and typed.

**A boy named kuroko called us. Just got here. He’s up in his room with a mt ash perimeter and another human**

**Three unwelcome werewolves inside   we don’t know anything else.**

Akashi looked up at the house and strode forward, pushing off the hand that tried to pull him back. He felt Nijimura and Kasamatsu fall instep behind him, Nijimura no longer ‘undetectable,’ but still favoring to circle to the back of the house.

Akashi hurled straight through a window, the resounding crash not dulling his senses at all.

There on the kitchen table was Himuro looking dazed as Murasakibara held him, veins black from healing. A huge goliath of a werewolf lay crumpled on the floor. Akashi turned quickly to find Kagami sending one last rake at a blond half-wolf. Kasamatsu darted past him.

“Son of a bitch,” Kasamatsu was saying as he tore into the living room. Akashi raced after him. “You!” Kasamatsu yelled as he ran headlong into a smiling werewolf.

“Wait,” Akashi yelled. But too late Kasamatsu hadn’t even seen the sword that he was holding. And then it was going right through Kasamatsu digging straight and deep. Kasamatsu froze, suspended. It was like time had stopped. Akashi pulled Kasamatsu back just as Aomine hauled himself up and feebly pushed the werewolf away from Kasamatsu. The man was laughing, staring down at Kasamatsu whose shirt was leaking red, the sword still imbedded as he slumped sideways into Akashi. Akashi heard a wiz. Nijimura had come just in time to peg the werewolf in the back.

Akashi quickly wrapped an arm around Kasamatsu to keep him up, he focused all his energy on healing him. Nijimura was tying up the werewolf with rope before hurrying into the kitchen. Akashi slowly pulled out the sword and they sank to the floor, he closed his eyes. _I’ve got you I’ve got you I’ve got you I’ve got you,_ he thought. And then he felt Kasamatsu give a shuddering gasp, hurt but alive. Akashi looked up to see Aomine on his back heaving as well – at least his wounds seemed to be healing enough on their own. Akashi continued to heal Kasamatsu slowly. If he hadn’t been there, if Kasamatsu hadn’t been an alpha now, he’d be dead. Akashi gripped Kasamatsu tighter. “ _For alphas so much of our emotions are static… but there is a whole spectrum of color that we don’t feel we’re missing. And that is what a mate gives you._ ” That’s what the Alpha had told him. He looked down at Kasamatsu and pulled him a little closer. The Alpha was dead. He waited until Kasamatsu seemed stable – that was all he could give right now. He stood up and went over to the kitchen. “Daiki come when you can,” he called back.

Nijimura had tied up the other two werewolves. Himuro was looking pale, but ok, and other than some gashes, Murasakibara looked ok too.

“Where’s Taiga?” Akashi asked.

“He went to get the other two,” Nijimura answered.

“Right. I’ll go talk to the police.”

“I should go too,” Nijimura said.

It took awhile, but soon the adults arrived, which meant that Akashi was free to return inside. He found everyone up in the den, exhausted and bloody. Except for Midorima whose limp body Murasakibara had carried in for solidarity. Akashi took Takao to the bathroom to help clean him up while Kuroko helped Kagami.

“Let me help too,” Kise said shakily. Akashi didn’t comment on how blotchy his eyes were.

“Why don’t you clean up Aomine,” he answered.

***

“Kise, thanks,” Aomine said.

Kise bit his lip to keep from crying again. He’d just been so damned worried.

“Kise?”

He shook his head, felt a tear dislodge itself and he laughed as he rubbed his eye. Aomine was sitting on the toilet lid as Kise took the washcloth Aomine handed him. He ran some warm water and carefully rubbed the caked blood off of Aomine’s arms. Without being prompted Aomine took off his shirt. Kise’s blush turned into a look of horror, there were cuts and bruises everywhere. Yet they were fading even as he stared.

“I’m fine,” Aomine said. “Well I’ll be fine in a matter of minutes.”

They were silent until Kise finished. Aomine led them to his room where he changed.

“Kise, that guy.”

Kise shuddered and Aomine looked at him in alarm.

“Nevermind,” Aomine said quickly.

“No, Aomine, it’s not- it’s hard to talk about but I should. With you I mean I should- no I want to I mean.” Kise took a few deep breaths before facing Aomine head on. And he told him. Told him about the creepy comments, the times in the bathroom, the basketball, the way he’d finally been beaten up by Mibuchi and his friends, and how his family had moved. He told him about Kasamatsu. When he finished he realized that they were sitting on the floor together. Aomine looked mad, but Kise didn’t have to ask to know that he wasn’t mad at him. Aomine scooted closer his arms slowly coming around Kise.

“I like you,” Aomine said as he squeezed him. “I won’t hurt you.”

Kise hugged him back, scooting until he was in Aomine’s lap. “I know you won’t.”

***

The rest of the pack had returned, the kids being kept upstairs while the adults filled each other in. Kasamatsu found himself sitting near a red-faced and exhausted Kagami. He wasn’t the only one who looked like they’d been crying in privacy – their Alpha was dead. Aito had gone to tell the children, and Moriyama offered to go with him _we need to tell our part of the pack too_ he’d said.

The body of the Alpha was placed out back and they began to construct the pyre that was always used when an alpha passed.

They took shifts, slept, and heard reports on the news and from Aomine’s father who was liaising with the police force about all that had happened.

Akashi didn’t sleep much, instead he spent most of his time watching the others, making sure that they really were ok. And then there was the right of passage. He had been the next alpha and now… now he was the Alpha.

On the full moon they gave him the ashes of the previous alpha – her husband and Kagami having the honors of passing them on – if you could consider it an honor. Akashi continued the secrecy of what he had to do with the ashes – there were some things that the others didn’t need to know.

After the investigations were made, Rakuzan leadership was charged. And after that everything was well, tame. But it wasn’t normal. They had to act normal, but nothing was normal.

***

“Hey.”

Kagami looked up to see Kuroko holding a bottle.

“I can’t get drunk,” Kagami said.

“This is from Midorima. Something about supernatural tolerances and science.”

Kagami took the bottle and Kuroko sat down and tucked into his side. It burned like a thousand suns, naturally he took another swig. “I miss her.”

Kuroko burrowed closer. “She was your mom. And she was amazing,” he said quietly. The sun was coming up. Kagami had slept fitfully, he kept having dreams. Not nightmares. Just dreams of his mom, his dad, and him all together, and he knew it wasn’t real.

“Hey,” Kuroko said quietly. Kagami watched as Kuroko stowed the bottle and slipped his hand into Kagami’s. Kagami looked up when he heard footsteps.

“Tatsuya, come join us.”

Himuro was still shaky after being knocked out. Harasawa had claimed that even when healed by a mate sometimes it took your body some time to adjust.

Himuro grimaced as he sat on Kagami’s other side. And Murasakibara, always close behind, wrapped a blanket around Himuro and then another around Kagami and Kuroko.

“Thank you,” Kuroko murmured.

“It’s beautiful,” Himuro said, staring out.

Aomine emerged around nine looking pissy and confused about why he was awake. But then Akashi was guiding him to where they all sat. At one point in their silent vigil Ed had come out with a plate of toast for them to gnaw on, but then he’d given a watery smile and waved Kagami off when he told his dad that he could sit down too.

“It’s always been the six of us,” Himuro said. That was definitely true Kagami thought. Akashi let out a loud sigh, which never happened. But he was scrubbing at his face and shaking his head slightly.

“What’s wrong?” Himuro said.

“What isn’t?” said Aomine.

They waited for Akashi to give a real answer.

“I attempted to heal her,” Akashi said, barely a whisper, his voice still strong and his eyes reflecting the light of the sun. He looked truly disappointed in himself in the angry silent way that only Akashi managed to pull off.

“Akashi,” Kagami started, but he didn’t know what to say.

“You’re the best fucking werewolf,” Aomine growled. “If you couldn’t heal her no one could.”

Akashi thought that he’d misheard for a minute.

“Besides,” Himuro added, “you can’t win all the time.”

“It’s ok,” Murasakibara said and Akashi was concerned by the seemingly _comforting_ hand on his shoulder.

“I wasn’t here for you either,” Akashi persisted, remembering the cop cars and the anger that had flared in him at the possibility that someone else had died.

“We can take care of things sometimes too,” Kuroko said quietly. Akashi stared from one to the other, and then listened to the quiet chatter coming from the house.

“Well,” he coughed a little, “I think you’ve all done a very good job.”

Kagami actually chuckled and Aomine’s mouth was twitching into a grin. They’d be ok.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All my thoughts about all of this / things I couldn't fit into the story:  
> 1) Kise’s locker number is 88 because there are 88 keys in a piano  
> 2) I really liked the development of Akashi and Kasamatsu and had to pull it back in cause this is a Kise x Aomine fic and I was getting way too overexcited about the rare pair (to the point where I wanted to break the fourth wall and have Kise say something like “aren’t I supposed to be the main character? This is confusing.” Thank goodness I refrained)  
> 3) Originally I wanted this to be about sexual assault and bullying, but as with most hardships in life – everything is so much bigger. Those things don’t define who we are and I wanted Kise’s struggle with a normal relationship with Aomine to trump his past trauma – I hope that I did an ok job of that.  
> 4) The scene where Kise recalls the words of a piano idol are actually a direct quote (not at all fiction) from a friend of mine who studied at Juilliard. “When you can’t see your fingers anymore” was the definition of prodigy that his father had given him. Idk why but I always liked the way that sounded ☺  
> 5) I think that Kasamatsu is like part of the Manga BF line (him or Iwaizumi for Haikyuu!! They seem like the most real people in these manga’s lol)  
> 6) At the beginning of the story Kise wonders if Nijimura is a werewolf because he found Kise so quickly after Kise left the cafeteria. This was like the smallest clue ever that he was in fact a hunter – that was one thing I decided from the get-go. I actually wanted him to be in the story more but I kind of didn’t know how :X If I were to rewrite this I'd add more hints about his hunter-ness.  
> 7) Akashi’s phantom scents and visions are just imprints of wherever Kasamatsu is doing. Kasamatsu goes on this camp thing and learns how to control the shift. As he gets stronger he uses that mental strength to try and reach out to his mate. Akashi is also really into meditation etc. and so they kind of meet each other in these visions. I thought it was weird and thus awesome, hopefully you agree. 
> 
> As always, lmk if you have any questions and thank you for reading :)


	19. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fluff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is :) enjoy.

“Anything else we need?” Kasamatsu asked as he jogged up to Aito.

“I don’t think so. Everyone’s set to go.”

Kasamatsu could feel the eyes of a hundred pack members on him. The moon was beginning to peek out, and the other wolves were beginning to shift.

“Not tonight?” Aito asked.

Kasamatsu smiled. “Not tonight.” Aito clapped him on the shoulder, bounding forward, claws reaching out. Kasamatsu stood back.

“Don’t you miss it?” Himuro asked.

Kasamatsu turned to see Kuroko, Himuro, and Kise huddled together in a sort of blanket nest. He found himself smiling. “I don’t miss it,” he looked over to where Akashi was watching them. “I can do it anytime I want.”

Akashi was smirking.

“Woah!” Himuro said as Akashi started to transform, his body elongating and growing, one of the only full wolves amongst a group of half wolf/half man werewolves. “It’s been awhile since I’ve seen that.”

“Well we have Kasamatsu to look out for us now,” Kuroko said.

“To protect us,” Kise added.

Kasamatsu sat down. He’d never imagined that he’d get here. That there was a here. Where he could sit by Kise on a full moon. Where he wouldn’t be _pining_ for him. Where he’d be looking out at someone else, watching their bloodred coat, the flecks of gold that seemed to gleam and glow in the light.

***

“Shin go demon on his ass!” Takao said cheering Midorima on.

“That’s not how it works.”

“Awaken the beast within, let it out.” Takao jabbed Midorima in the side “come on come on come on come on.”

Kagami watched in apprehension as Akashi and Midorima faced off. “How can Akashi look so unconcerned?” Kagami said.

Himuro leaned back, Murasakibara lying next to him, and Kuroko playing with his dog.

“They’ll be fine,” Himuro said waving Kagami off.

“Idiots,” Aomine said. Kise was worried too. Kagami wasn’t being ridiculous at all – fighting was not a for-fun activity.

Kasamatsu was standing on Kise’s other side looking determined.

“What do you think Yukio?”

“Well someone’s going to need an alpha to heal them,” he said.

Everyone stared in wonder as Kasamatsu jogged over to the court.

“Did he just…” Himuro said.

“Smile?” Kagami finished.

They watched as Takao hastily stepped back. And Midorima, reluctantly, looked up to the clouds.

“Holy shit,” Aomine said. The sky was darkening, clouds becoming more dense, and Midorima’s eyes turning black.

“No way,” Kise said.

“Hell,” came Kagami’s voice.

“Akashi doesn’t look worried,” Kuroko said and they all turned to see Akashi still standing with his hands on his hips and smirking. And then the first bolt of fire hit. But Akashi was gone. Midorima definitely looked demonic now and he hurled all manner of weather at a dodging Akashi.

“It’s like he’s dancing,” Kise said. And it was true. Akashi was leaping and rolling always a second away from being defeated it seemed.

“Go alpha!” Aomine yelled startling Kise. But Aomine’s eyes were blazing as he watched the performance before them.

“Go Akashi!” Kise yelled.

“Alpha!” Himuro yelled.

“Alpha!”

And that’s when Akashi transformed, slid towards Midorima as if going in for homeplate and knocked him off his feet. Midorima fell towards Akashi, his black eyes seeming to lazer into Akashi, before he hastily pushed himself off and backed up. They were both panting as the others ran over. Kasamatsu got there first, his hand pulling Akashi up, black seeping up through his arm.

“Alpha powers,” Kise murmured.

“Mates,” Murasakibara said, wrapping an arm over Himuro’s shoulders and letting a flicker of black run into his veins.

“That's amazing,” Kise said turning to smiling at Aomine.

Aomine froze before settling on an easy grin, “some people just have it,” he shrugged before turning towards the house.

“Hey Aomine wait up.”

Aomine turned to see Kagami.

“You’re not telling Kise that you’re mates?” Kagami whispered.

“What do you mean?”

“I didn’t imagine it when Kise had that weird fit in the night. You tried to heal him right? Just for a second I saw the black.”

“I’ll tell him after we graduate.”

“But that’s…”

“A long ass time. But,” they both turned to watch the others playing together, “he needs less drama in his life.”

***

“Akashi’s been acting weird,” Kagami said.

“Yeah?” Himuro asked as he unpacked his bag.

“Yeah, ever since he and Kasamatsu left for that ‘weekend trip,’” Kagami rolled his eyes “he’s been more,” he gestured vaguely.

Himuro raised his eyebrows. “Well seems like we’ve missed a lot while we were gone. Atsushi, do you have the camera? I want to upload our photos.”

“He’s been…” Kagami looked around shiftily “happy,” he whispered.

Akashi came into the room.

“We never found out how they were using the darts,” he said simply.

“So is this like an alpha thing?” Himuro asked.

“What?” said Kasamatsu as he slipped in behind Akashi.

“Well the werewolves always seem surprised when you guys appear – almost like they can’t detect you.”

Kasamatsu shrugged, Akashi smirked, and Kagami found them both weirdly annoying.

“Anyways,” Akashi said. “We went down to Bakersfield to figure out what was up with the darts.”

“Oh, and?” Himuro asked.

“Vampires,” Kasamatsu said.

“Vampires?”

“Why would there be vampires?” Kagami asked in bewildered horror.

Akashi and Kasamatsu shared a look.

“Well,” Kasamatsu said, with forced ease, “it’s possible that they stole the medicine all on their own.”

“But why?”

“It’s actually rather smart,” Akashi said. “They use it to knock out the wolves and suck their blood. Werewolf blood is stronger so they don’t have to drink as often and we heal so there wouldn’t be any bite marks. Had they feasted on humans you can bet that some old hunting family in the area would’ve figured it out.”

“But I think it’s possible that Rakuzan gave them the darts so that they’d be less likely to be implicated in the fire,” Kasamatsu said. “They’re crafty like that.”

Everyone was quiet, Kasamatsu was glowering so hard that it might’ve left scorch marks on the bit of wall that he was staring at.

“Anyways we torched them,” Akashi said simply.

At some point Kise and Aomine had wandered into the room.

“Oh but are vampires actually bad?” Kise asked.

Kasamatsu raised his eyebrows.

“Yes?” Kise asked uncertainly.

“Think Bram Stoker,” Akashi said.

“Or like Justin Cronin,” Himuro offered.

“Not like Angel or uh Twilight?” Kise asked.

“Definitely not,” Akashi said.

“Good demons,” Kise said holding up a finger, “good werewolves,” a second finger – Aomine scowled – “and bad vampires,” he held up a finger on his other hand. “Got it.”

“Also good and bad hunters and bad werewolves,” Himuro said.

“Right.”

***

The air had turned crisp and cool.

“Ryouta you’re going to be late.”

“No I’m not,” Kise yelled through a mouthful of toast as he hurried past his father out to the porch.

“Hey!” Kagami yelled from the car. “You’re dad’s right, we definitely got here before you came out.”

Kise grinned as he ran to the back of the car.

“Have a good first day,” his mom called after him.

They were off to school in a flash.

“Hey,” Aomine said when they got out of the car, Kuroko and Kagami pulling ahead towards the building.

“Takao says they’re having a meeting on Friday,” Kise started.

“I’m still not joining the LGBT Super Squad.”

“Even if I join?” Kise said brightly.

“If you join then….”

Kise hauled out a small packet. “If you join then you get this.”

Aomine peered at the packet.

“You don’t have xray vision Aominecchi, you just have to trust me.”

Aomine rolled his eyes.

“I’ll go once a month.

“Ok!” Kise said and he handed him the packet.

Aomine waited until he was in homeroom to open it. He blushed, the words _lucky seven_ rushing through his mind as he stared down at the glimpse of white with blue stitching. He shoved the parcel into his bag.

Honestly what did Kise expect his to do with his jersey.

***

“Yukio.”

Kasamatsu rolled over to face Akashi whose red eyes staring intently at him. Kasamatsu didn’t think that he’d ever wake up before Akashi, especially not on a Saturday. “What’s wrong?”

Akashi shook his head. “I’ve been wondering,” Akashi’s fingers brushed across Kasamatsu’s shoulder. “About when you projected your emotions.”

Kasamatsu remembered back to his search for his mate, how hard he’d focused.

“I could see things, water rushing, hear things, distorted music. Did you ever feel anything from my end?”

Kasamatsu nodded. “I saw your eyes.”

Akashi stilled.

“In my dreams, sometimes I’d see a pair of red eyes and then they’d be gone. What with the fire I didn’t recognize at first, but I realized after. It was as if… as if I could sense you searching for me too.”

Akashi nodded once, as if that answered his question.

“Aomine really cares about Ryouta,” Kasamatsu said after a time.

“You want to talk about Daiki and Kise right now?”

Kasamatsu chuckled. “Sorry.”

Akashi grinned back. “It’s fine. I’m impressed by how much restraint he’s had. It was not like that at the beginning.”

“Oh really?”

“There were some ‘incidents.’”

They stared at each other and then Akashi waggled his eyebrows.

Kasamatsu couldn’t stop the roar of laughter that came out of him. There was a side to Akashi that just never came out in front of anyone else. Kasamatsu hauled the blanket over Akashi’s head, muffling his light chuckle, before he got out of bed.

A half hour later found them both showered and dressed downstairs.

“I’ll see you after the meeting,” Akashi said as he went off to sit with the other adult wolves.

Kasamatsu sat at the breakfast table.

“No Murasakibara?” he said to a sleepy Himuro.

“He’s at some werewolf club on campus.”

Kasamatsu frowned. “Do they not allow human pack members?”

“They do,” he shrugged. “Just thought I’d sit this one out.”

Kasamatsu nodded. “Morning.”

Kagami raised a hand and Kuroko slouched into the room. Kasamatsu stared at Kuroko’s neck before giving Kagami a very unimpressed look. Himuro let out a snort as Kagami turned scarlet. Kuroko just went to the fridge completely unaware of the stares.

“Kuroko,” Kasamatsu finally said.

Kuroko looked up, holding a carton of milk.

“Come here.”

Kuroko went over and Kagami looked on uneasily.

Kasamatsu carefully held Kuroko’s arm. Small whisps of black trailed from the splotches on Kuroko’s neck and down into Kasamatsu’s veins.

“Try to remember that your father would not be amused,” Kasamatsu said staring at Kagami, who nodded fervently. Kasamatsu let go of Kuroko’s arm. Kuroko slouched away but thwacked Kagami when he passed him, grumbling “I told you.”

“What’s wrong?” Himuro asked after the other two left.

“Nothing,” Kasamatsu said – not altogether honestly. “Aomine hasn’t told Kise that they’re mates.”

“Yeah,” Himuro said frowning not at all getting where Kasamatsu was going with this.

Aomine didn’t dislike Kasamatsu it was just that he didn’t like him.

“What?” he snarled when Kasamatsu’s eyes had tracked him for a full ten seconds.

“I’ve just been wondering,” there was something unnerving about the precision with which he flipped a newspaper page, “how you do it.”

“Do what?” he said squinting. They were the only ones in the den, the others grabbing food to bring back.

“Well, Ryouta’s human, so I would imagine that things hurt quite a bit when you get physical, marks don’t fade, those things.”

Aomine blanched. “Your point?” he said angrily.

“What I don’t understand,” another calculated page flip, “is how you’re able to heal him without him realizing you’re doing it.”

Aomine stiffened. “It’s- I-,” he was blushing so hard and Kasamatsu was SMIRKING. “You!” he yelled. He launched himself over the couch and Kasamatsu dived. “You’re channeling Akashi, how the hell are YOU doing THAT?”

When the others came back it was to find Kasamatsu and Aomine sitting on the couch looking distinctly ruffled but both pleased with themselves.

“If,” Akashi said looking between the two of them, “I weren’t completely sure that Daiki has other interests I’d find this picture extremely worrisome.”

“We just uh-” Aomine glanced at Kasamatsu.

“Answered some unanswered questions,” he offered with a smirk. Akashi looked unimpressed. Kise on the other hand looked nervous.

“You’ve got a good boyfriend,” Kasamatsu said to Kise, who immediately relaxed at the reassuring nod that Kasamatsu gave him. Akashi followed Kasamatsu out of the room as the others laid out the food.

“Unanswered questions?” Akashi said.

“I’ll tell you all about it later,” Kasamatsu said smiling before kissing Akashi once. “I’m honestly surprised that he’s actually figured out such a crafty way to do things.”

“I heard that!” Aomine yelled from the other room.

Akashi smirked and Kasamatsu found himself grinning.

***

“Ok.”

“Ok?”

“You promised.”

Aomine stared at the hard look in Kise’s eyes, his graduation cap clutched in white knuckles. Kise was nervous, his heartbeat erratic and yet matching Aomine’s own fluttering heart. Shit. This was a lot harder than he’d thought.

“I’m not trying to worm my way out or anything, but could we talk when we’re alone?” Kise followed his gaze to where the others were still taking photos. Kise nodded curtly.

Aomine had finally told his parents that he knew that Kise was his mate. They weren’t at all impressed with his not telling them sooner, but they were impressed with how he had handled it (apparently). Aomine strongly suspected that Akashi had talked to them, which pissed him off, because he was sure that that was the only reason that they trusted him with Kise. But regardless his parents had then talked to Kise’s parents. And after a lot of confusion and one very awkward sex talk during which Aomine had had to be open with both his and Kise’s parents, he was finally here, in his room with Kise.

“My parents said I could stay over,” Kise said for the umpteenth time. It was like he didn’t believe it, even now that he was staring at Aomine’s bed. “I – me – here, with _you_.” Aomine wanted to roll his eyes, but he couldn’t. Yes they’d had sex, yes their parents knew. But now, now he had to tell Kise.

“Ryouta, there’s something I need to tell you.”

Kise froze before slowly facing him. Aomine had thought it through, there was no way to make it less of a deal than it was, so he just said it.

“You’re my mate. I’ve known for awhile now.”

Kise stared. Aomine stared back. After several minutes of this Aomine started to panic. “Uh Kise?”

“No,” Kise said.

“No?” Aomine felt himself curling in.

“No I mean,” Kise shook his head and came right up to where Aomine was standing. “Don’t start calling me Kise again.”

“Oh.”

“Um I thought you didn’t have a mate.”

Aomine shrugged. “Yeah so did I, but, here you are.”

Kise nodded slowly, Aomine could tell that he was putting things together for himself.

“It’s kind of scary,” Kise said. Aomine felt his stomach plummeting again. But Kise was smiling in the shy way that Aomine associated with him being extremely happy. “But it’s also exciting,” Kise said.

“Yeah?” Aomine held his breath.

“Yeah,” and Kise was kissing him. And Aomine was kissing him back.

They had their whole lives to talk about it, but for now he took this as acceptance, as love, as everything that they’d built together in the two plus years that they’d been dating.

“I love you,” Kise whispered.

“I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading <3

**Author's Note:**

> I just made a tumblr so if you have requests for future works please lmk here! YAY! [wulfm](https://wulfm.tumblr.com/ask)


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